


From the Other Side

by RealityXIllusion



Series: Hakuba's (Mis)Adventures [2]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Angst, Black Organization (Meitantei Conan), Blood, Bonding, But he really does, Caffeine Addiction, Comas - Freeform, Crying, Drifting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Has Issues, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Ghost Drifting, Hakuba Protection Squad, Hakuba angst, Hakuba can see ghosts, Hakuba has insomia, Hakuba has no friends, Headaches & Migraines, Heiji is a good bro, Hurt!Kaito, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Kaito is a lil shit, Necessary OC's - Freeform, Nightmares, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Spirit Medium!Hakuba, Suicidal Thoughts, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, conan needs a hug, cursing, everyone is worried, ghosts look like how they died, gore in some parts, hakuba needs a hug, hurt!Conan, hurt!Hakuba, hurt!Heiji, rated m to be safe, tea addiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 21:54:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 40,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14777948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealityXIllusion/pseuds/RealityXIllusion
Summary: Spirit Medium. Someone who possesses the ability to see ghosts. An ability which Hakuba has had the misfortune of having his whole life, he's ignored it for the most part. However, it seems the moment he moved to Japan just ignoring the ghosts would no longer be possible.OrHakuba can see ghosts and he wishes he couldn't.





	1. Kuroba Touichi

**Author's Note:**

> This story had gotten stuck in my head ever since I saw the ghost episode of Magic Kaito and I just thought, "What if?"
> 
> I do not own Magic Kaito or Detective Conan Case Closed, but please enjoy the story!

It wasn’t the fact that he was a teenage detective or his mixed lineage that made him different. No, what made him different was the fact that for as long as he can remember he could see what others could not.

He could see the spirits of the dearly departed.

Traveling back-and-forth from England to Japan ever since his parents divorce had given him the chance to see how different people truly were. Mainly in terms of the hidden truths being revealed by the ghosts which haunted them all.

It bothered him but for the most part he’s been able to avoid acknowledging their existence. Mainly due to the fact that had he not chosen to ignore them, then his constant nightmares would be filled with even more gruesome images of corpses.

Most would think that a ghost looked the same as how they did when they were alive, but he knew better, every ghost he’s ever paid attention too looked exactly the same as their corpse the moment their heart stopped beating.

Definitely the cause for nightmares.

Reaching 17 years of age he’s learned by now how to control his odd ability. Although, for the most part he’s decided to act as though his ability to see the dead did not exist. He’s been successful in that endeavor, up until the moment he arrived in Japan and attending his first Kaitou Kid heist.

The heist itself was something that he had never experienced before along with the task forces methods to catch the Phantom Thief. Sadly, he found himself highly distracted by the image of a burnt corpse hanging around Kaitou Kid. He was so startled by the sudden appearance that he’d frozen where he was as a fake Kid distracted the others, while the real Kaitou Kid snuck off with _someone who’d been burned_ following after him.

Due to his epidemic memory, all throughout the course of the night the burnt body that he had seen at the heist seemed to haunt his dreams. He felt nauseous when he walked into the classroom 2-B of Ekoda High School and saw the very same ghost, _because what else was it,_ following around his new classmate; Kuroba Kaito.

He’d done so well to ignore ghosts thus far, but every day he’s faced with the same one almost as annoying as those he haunts.

When he’d come to the realization that Kaitou Kid and Kuroba Kaito were one and the same, and he confronted Kaito on the matter; the ghost that’s been following Kaito began to follow him on some days as well.

Hakuba did not like having his privacy so easily invaded upon. It took him a bit of researching but after a background check on his classmate he realized that the ghost could be none other than Kuroba Touichi. Kaito’s father who had died years ago due to a magic show gone wrong.

What unnerved Hakuba about the man was that whenever he decided to follow Hakuba home, he never spoke or did anything other than stand off to the sod and watched him. Hakuba had to make sure that whenever he followed him he never did anything that could giveaway anything about him, especially his ability to see ghosts.

It took a Kaitou Kid heist gone wrong for Hakuba to let his guard down around the ghost.

The heist proceeded just as how every other one had in the past, kid arrived on time and his tricks managed to fool everyone on the task force. Hakuba managed to avoid the majority of them and make it onto the rooftop just in time to see Kid go down.

Kuroba Touichi’s yell was enough to spur Hakuba into action.

He raced towards Kid’s prone form and the moment he moved out of the shadows bullets came flying at him. He could hear Kuroba-san yelling at him now, asking him what the hell he was doing and to get away from the roof. Hakuba ignored him for the most part as he crouched over Kid and shielded him from the bullets still coming in their direction.

Hakuba winced, he felt a brief pain in his side but ignored it as adrenaline rushed through his system. He couldn’t afford to lose focus, neither could Kaitou Kid. He slid his arms under Kid’s armpits and grunted lightly as he pulled Kid up enough so he wouldn’t be dragging his entire body. Hakuba rushed as he pulled Kid’s body with him towards the nearest cover which happened to be the entrance to the roof. Oddly enough the roof didn’t have anything on it other than the entrance and a few pipes sticking out of the ground. Hakuba kept himself shielding Kid as he braced him against the wall by the door as he tried to open it without dropping Kid.

In the end he managed to fling the door open, but not without a few close calls as bullets dug into the concrete wall right by his head; sending bits of concrete flying and slicing into his skin. Hakuba tried to ignore Kuroba-san but the man continued panicking and was constantly repeating, “Oh god please don’t die. Please don’t die.” Hakuba wanted to snap at the man that his constant commentary was not helping but he knew if he did that than the man would know he could see him.

Hakuba made it into the stairwell just inside by the roof’s door which he slammed shut behind him. Now with at least a brief moment of peace, Hakuba glanced down at Kid to make sure he hadn’t just been dragging a corpse around with him and not an unconscious thief.

Thankfully Kid still had a strong and steady pulse throbbing beneath his skin.

Hakuba sighed in relief before focusing more clearly on Kid’s face now that he was up close, Hakuba ignored the fact that he had Kid in his possession and that he could clearly see his classmate Kuroba Kaito beneath the hat and monocle. Instead Hakuba focused on the blood dripping down the side of Kaito’s forehead, a bullet had grazed him.

He swallowed thickly as it struck him how close Kaito had been to becoming one of the ghosts he see’s wandering around.

He needed to get him out of here.

Hakuba reached inside his coat and pulled out his handkerchief before pressing it against Kaito’s wound causing said person to unconsciously wince.

“Sorry Kuroba-kun,” Hakuba muttered, ignoring Kuroba-san’s loud gasp as he said his son’s name. “It needs to be done otherwise you’ll lose to much blood.”

After five minutes and thirty-four seconds passed, during which time Hakuba assumed the task force were off chasing Kid’s double, Hakuba hesitantly pulled his soaked handkerchief away from Kaito’s skin and was glad to see the blood slowed down enough to less than a small drop still easing out of the wound.

In that moment Hakuba swore to himself he’d start carrying a bit of gauze and tape on him at all times, perhaps a few aesthetic wipes as well.

Shifting Kaito’s body around was like controlling a ragdoll but thankfully Hakuba managed as he pulled Kaito onto his back and shakenly stood up in the position of giving him a piggyback ride.

_“What are you doing? Where are you taking my son?”_

Hakuba barely managed not to jolt backwards as Kuroba-san’s face suddenly appeared right in front of his own, close enough for Hakuba to see just how badly burned his skin was. The man looked completely unrecognizable.

Hakuba kept his eyes on the ground as he began walking, due to his height advantage on Kaito and the fact that he wasn’t really heavy, to begin with, Hakuba was able to carry him easily enough. He carried him down all the stairs, not wanting to take the elevator and risk getting seen on the cameras or by the task force, and out the back way of the museum. By the time they made it outside, Hakuba was panting from exertion. Walking to the end of the building to glance each way on the street, Hakuba made sure there was no one to pay any attention to him as he quickly began walking away from the museum. Once they were at least four blocks away, Hakuba ducked into the nearest alleyway and settled Kaito down, hidden behind a dumpster with him sitting on his cloak instead of the dirty ground.

Hakuba unbuttoned Kaito’s suit jacket and began shifting through the pockets until he found Kaito’s cellphone.

_“Who’re you calling?”_

Hakuba flinched as Kuroba-san spoke directly into his ear and wondered if the idea of invading others personal space ran in the family. Hakuba brushed off the unsettling feeling of having Kuroba-san leaning so close to him in favor of unlocking Kaito’s phone and pulling up his contacts.

_“Ooh, we have a hacker here!”_

Hakuba shifted through the contacts and his brow furrowed as he saw contacts for, Tantei-kun who had to be Edogawa Conan and Tantei-han, but Hakuba didn’t know who that was since he knew Kaito called him Tantei-san which meant he knew another detective. Hakuba felt annoyed as he saw his own number, which he never gave, in Kaito’s contacts as well.

Other than him, the two other detectives, Aoko-san, someone labeled as a witch and the contact for Chikage-san whom he knew was Kaito’s mom, there was one other number saved under the name Gramps.

Hakuba clicked on that one and hit call. Once the call connected, he dropped the cellphone into Kaito’s lap and he stood up.

_“You’re not just going to leave him there are you?!”_

Hakuba ignored Kuroba-san’s yell and instead walked to the other end of the alleyway and hide in the shadows. After almost ten minutes, and Hakuba was steadily growing worried as Kaito had yet to show signs of waking up, a car screeched to a stop outside the alley and an elderly looking man came running into the alleyway right towards Kaito. Hakuba didn’t relax until he saw out of the corner of his eye that Kuroba-san seemed relieved to see the man near Kaito.

Seeing as his job was done, Hakuba turned and headed home.

Hakuba barely made it into his house and greeted a shell-shocked Baaya before collapsing on the floor and causing her to scream. Hakuba watched in a daze as Baaya rushed towards him and pulled his head into her lap and she began running her fingers through her hair, something which always soothed him. He began to block her out as she began talking about calling the family doctor and for him to stay awake, instead Hakuba’s attention turned to a startled Kuroba-san.

_“You were injured?! Oh my god, Hakuba-kun don’t you dare die! You protected my son, you saved him, you can’t die. It’ll kill him if he found out you got yourself killed because of him, because of us….”_

“M’fine.” Hakuba slurred attempting to reassure Kuroba-san and a frantic Baaya.

_“He’s saying he’s fine, hah! You are not fine! I swear you’re just as bad as Kaito!”_

Hakuba scowled at Kuroba-san, finding it slightly hard to focus on him, “...m’not K’ito…”

_“Wh-What?”_

Hakuba gulped realizing what he just did.

_“Y-You can see me?”_

_“IF YOU CAN SEE ME THAN YOU REALLY ARE DYING?!?!”_

Hakuba was so startled by Kuroba-san’s scream that he flinched violently and the sudden movement caused a flare of pain to overcome him. The pain was too much for him at that point and Hakuba lost consciousness.

At that same moment the doorbell rang, Kuroba-san began yelling for Hakuba not to die and Baaya began crying as she rushed towards the front door.  


	2. Miyano Akemi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was during the "Detective Koshien" that Hakuba met Edogawa Conan and Hattori Heiji. It was there that he also met one of the many ghosts that seemed to haunt the two of them. 
> 
> There's a month difference between the first chapter and this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be based off of the manga, mainly because at the moment I cannot watch the show.

When Hakuba regained consciousness he was laying in his bed, stripped off his shirt and in a pair of loose sweats with a thick wad of gauze and bandages on his shoulder and hip. Hakuba blinked down at them, wondering where they came from before the events of last night all came rushing back to him.

He wanted to know what painkillers he was on since he could barely feel any pain at all.

_“You don’t know how lucky you are kiddo.”_

Hakuba rolled his eyes, “Yes, I’m well aware of how close I could’ve been to dying Kuroba-san, I don’t need you telling me about it.”

When only silence answered him, Hakuba actually sat up, a painful task, and looked for Kuroba-san only to see him standing by his window, gaping at him. Hakuba made a disgusted noise as he noticed how some of Kuroba-san’s teeth were missing and any leftover ones were in various transitions of decay.

“Please close your mouth Kuroba-san.”

_“W-Why can you see me?!”_

Hakuba wanted to smack himself when he realized what he’d just done. Kuroba-san apparently thought his talking to him was just because he was injured not because he could actually see ghosts and now he’d just thrown that available excuse away.

_“Oi!”_

Hakuba jerked away from Kuroba-san when he grabbed his shoulders and the sudden movement put a strain on his still injured body causing him to yelp.

_“Don’t move, Hakuba-kun are you alright?”_

“Please don’t just suddenly touch me Kuroba-san and I’m fine.” Hakuba hissed shifting around on the mattress to get comfortable as he leaned back against the headboard. He knew the upcoming conversation was bound to give him a headache.

“So…” Hakuba started, “ You want to know why I can see you correct?” Kuroba-san nodded eagerly, and Hakuba wanted to laugh at how alike he was to his son, “I can see you because I can see ghosts.”

Kuroba-san roared, _“...There has to be more to it than that! It can’t be so simple!”_

“Why not?” Hakuba smirked.

_“You-!”_

.

..

…

Hakuba didn't even know why he was attending this meeting of various Detectives. It wasn't something he'd usually do, but ever since revealing to Kuroba-san that he could see him, for the past month the ghost has been talking to him non-stop, and he needed a break.

Most of the time he just talked about how cute Kaito was growing up, other times he'd lecture him about trying to arrest his son but in moments when it was just the two of them Kuroba-san would question what his true motives were.

That was something not even Hakuba knew.

It took him almost an entire week to convince Kuroba-san not to follow him to this gathering and in the end, he only agreed because Kaitou Kid had scheduled another heist and Kuroba-san wanted to be able to watch over his son.

The boat ride to the gathering was suspicious alone not adding the shady people behind the said gathering, what bothered him the most was the fact that he was asked to replace the actual Detective of the East; Kudo Shinichi.

He’s heard a lot about Kudo Shinichi but has never had the pleasure of meeting the Detective, he didn’t want to trespass on another’s territory. It took almost three hours before everyone else arrived, it’d given him more than enough time to do a little bit of recon and come to the conclusion that he really did not like this place.

“Then,” The Nichiuri TV Producer; Tsuchio Hiroo began, “Now that all the Detectives from the East, West, South, and North are gathered...Let’s introduce ourselves!”

Hakuba tuned them all out as they introduced themselves, he didn’t care too much for knowing the South and North representative’s names, he already knew Edogawa Conan and it was thanks to his research he knew who Hattori Heiji was. Hakuba instead focused on the ghost that was following Conan around, it wasn’t rare to see ghosts around children but for Hakuba, it was rare since Conan appeared to have as many random ghosts as Hattori did.

Usually when ghosts who did not have a connection to anyone but stayed around someone regardless, then they were no longer ghosts with a form but a sphere of fire instead. Police officers, firefighters, medical staff and people of the military were the ones who had the most sphere’s around them, it was those who had seen a lot of death.

It unnerved Hakuba to realize how much death Conan must’ve seen in his lifetime. As a high school Detective, it made a bit more sense for Hattori to have them, but Hakuba wondered why the other two high school Detectives didn’t.

There was one ghost that had a form and followed Conan around at that moment. Ghosts came and went whenever they pleased so Hakuba couldn’t use that as a measure of when the ghost had died but Hakuba glanced at the ghost crouched next to Conan and frowned when he saw the bullet hole in her chest.

It was a woman, possible twenty-four to twenty-five, she had long chocolate brown hair, bangs, a semi-pale complexion and a warm, inviting personality about her despite being dead.

“They’re over 1000 so, I can’t count them one by one!”

Hakuba looked back over at Hattori Heiji just as he finished introducing himself causing Hakuba to smirk as he heard Hattori telling Conan how he included solving missing cat cases.

“I see, so you’re Hattori Heiji,” Hakuba said calmly, “I’ve heard much about you from my father. He said you’re a quick-witted Detective.”

“What...What does your Daddy know about me?!” Hattori said leaning into Hakuba’s personal space.

“So that’s why Heiji-niichan’s alike!”  Conan exclaimed suddenly cutting into the conversation.

“Alike?” Hattori muttered shoving his hands into his pockets and glancing down at Conan.

“Isn’t that so, Hakuba-niichan?” Conan asked looking up at Hakuba.

“Yeah,” Hakuba said staring at Conan, “My father’s a police Superintendent.” Hakuba turned and addressed Hattori, “Your father’s Director of the Osaka Police Department, I have a surprising amount in common with you.”

“Ho-”

“By the way, the number of cases you have solved?”

Hakuba looked over at the Detective of the South, somewhat annoyed by his interruption, “The number would be roughly 500, I believe…”

“What, that’s half my number!”

Hakuba felt his annoyance grow at the high and mighty tone Hattori used with him, “Yeah. But then, I’m just talking about the cases that happened in Japan.”

Hattori scowled at Hakuba, “What?”

Hakuba glanced once more at the ghost hovering by Conan's side, she seemed oddly amused by the situation and Hakuba risked a glance at Conan before realizing Conan was staring at him with a panicked look on his face. Startled, Hakuba looked back at Hattori and explained his living in England and his Baaya accepting cases from Japan for him.

This was the start of a very interesting trip. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will have some time skips, hopefully nothing too drastic.


	3. No One Knows Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case comes to a close and now not only does Hakuba have two ghosts haunting him but Edogawa Conan and Hattori Heiji seem to hate him.

He was right in saying the Detective gathering was going to be interesting, not only was there a  murderer amongst them but now Hakuba had to deal with a panicking ghost (the newly departed), an annoyed Hattori who seemed to hate him on sight and Conan who tried to avoid him and was acting overly childish around him.

It seemed his comment on how smart Conan was unsettled the both of them.

He would’ve been glad if the ghost woman who followed Conan could calm Tokitsu-kun down, but learning from experience ghosts cannot see one another without help from an outside source, something Hakuba couldn’t do with others around.  

Not to mention he was under scrutiny from Conan and Hattori, Hattori only started keeping an eye on him after Conan and he was alone in the room before dinner and Tokitsu-Kun's murder.

This was why Hakuba preferred working theft or missing person cases, not homicide, though he supposed he was somewhat immune to the shock of seeing corpses after all the ghosts he’s seen in various types of having died. The storm made it impossible for him to use looking outside as an excuse to explain what had happened to Tokitsu-kun, and with Natsuki-san freaking out due to the thunder, Hakuba didn’t feel comfortable leaving her all alone with the two other suspects and Hattori, and Conan who was solely focused on solving the murder.

Which is why Hakuba knelt near Natsuki-san and tried to calm her down as Hattori forced the windows shut. Afterward, though his words were harsh, Hakuba lead Natsuki-san and the other two suspects back to the dining room and used that as his chance.

Thankfully Tokitsu-Kun's ghost had followed them to the dining room and Hakuba held his hand out to stop him before he tried going in.

Hakuba ignored the blood cascading down the side of Tokitsu-Kun's face and focused on speaking low enough that the other’s couldn’t hear him, “Tokitsu-kun please wait here.”

His eyes widened and Hakuba felt something inside of him break at the hopeful and pleading look Tokitsu-kun gave him.

_“Y-You can see me? W-What the hell’s going on?! Why can’t any of the other’s see me and w-w-why are you all saying I’m dead?!”_

Hakuba sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, this was the worst part about coming into contact with new ghosts, none of them seemed to be able to grasp the fact that they were dead and they always bombarded him with questions before getting angry at him. Of course, they only became angry once they realized he couldn’t bring them back, or if he could then he had no idea how.

“Tokitsu-kun...You know as well as I do that you’ve been killed,” Hakuba said softly, “We’re trying our best to bring your killer to justice, please have faith in us."

_“You’ve got to be shitting me, I-I’m dead. I’M A FUCKING GHOST AND YOU’RE TELLING ME TO HAVE FAITH?!”_

Hakuba’s eyes widened as Tokitsu-kun grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and began shaking him.

Another thing he hated about this ability of his, once he acknowledges a ghost, for at least two hours afterward they’ll be able to touch him, sometimes less but never more.

Scowling, Hakuba knocked Tokitsu-Kun's hands off of him but wasn’t able to move quickly enough before he landed a punch to Hakuba’s torso. Letting out a grunt as he was still on the mend from getting shot twice merely a month ago, Hakuba pulled his arm back and punched Tokitsu-kun as hard as he could in the cheek.  

Hakuba took a step back from him and calmly said, “We will find your killer, but please do not make this more difficult than it has to be.”

Not waiting for a response, Hakuba turned to hurry back to where Conan and Hattori were waiting, only the moment he turned around he came face to face with the woman that was haunting Conan. Hakuba froze, close to almost walking into her before he quickly stepped back and gave her a nod in acknowledgment before brushing past her and hurrying up the stairs.

.

..

…

The solving of the case went quicker than Hakuba expected, and the ghost women’s comments about his time obsession and attention to detail annoyed him yet he was able to ignore her easily enough.

However because he had shown he could see her, even after the case was solved and they were on their way off the island, instead of following Conan home she followed him and now Hakuba was stuck in his bedroom with two annoying ghosts.

Kuroba-san who was gloating about his son’s heist and the mystery woman who kept demanding he look at her and answer her questions.

It didn’t help that they couldn’t see one another.

Groaning, Hakuba dropped his head down onto his desk and mentally debated on whether or not he could outrun a ghost.

_“Hakuba-kun what’s wrong?”_

Now Hakuba felt bad that Kuroba-san was getting worried about him. Sitting up Hakuba turned the chair towards the two ghosts and said in general, “Did you know that ghosts cannot see one another unless one acted as a medium allowing them to do so?”

It amused Hakuba by how excited and curious Kuroba-san looked while the ghost lady looked semi worried as she glanced around her nervously.

Sighing lightly, Hakuba turned towards her and asked, “My name is Hakuba Saguru. May I have your name, please? More so I have something to address you by?”

She seemed hesitant but eventually muttered, “Miyano Akemi.”

Hakuba nodded, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Miyano-san.”

She scowled suddenly and said, “Oh please just call me Akemi-san. I haven’t gone by my last name in years.”

“Very well, Akemi-san then.” Hakuba gestured towards Kuroba-san, “I am aware you cannot see one another but this is Kuroba Touichi-san.” Hakuba turned towards Kuroba-san and gestured to Akemi-san, “Kuroba-san, please meet Miyano Akemi-san. She began following me after my most recent case.”

_“Is she the ghost of a victim?” Kuroba-san asked._

Hakuba shook his head, “No, she was following around Edogawa Conan-kun. Once she realized I could see her, she began following me.”

_“So why can you see me?” Akemi-san asked perching on the edge of Hakuba’s bed._

“I can see you because I can see ghosts,” Hakuba said calmly. He had to force himself not to laugh at the face Akemi-san made at him and Kuroba-san’s outraged cry. “Anyway, would you two like to see one another?”

Kuroba-San nodded eagerly while Akemi-san pretended not to be just as excited to see someone else and interact with them.

Hakuba held up his hand, “First a warning.” Once he had both of their attention of him, Hakuba continued, “I’m not sure what you will look like to one another, but if you can see how I perceive you two then let me give you a heads up.”

“Kuroba-san is a burnt corpse and Akemi-san has a bullet hole in her chest,” Hakuba said bluntly shocking the other two.

_“Wait a minute.” Kuroba-san’s eyes widened in horror, “We don’t look how we normally would?”_

_“We look like how we died Hakuba-kun?” Akemi-san asked sadly._

“Yes,” Hakuba said in answer to them both. “Which is why I want you both to know and give me your consent on letting you see one another. If one of you says no then I will not do it.”

_“.... I-I’ll be okay, I think.” Akemi-san said slowly, “I’ve seen my fair share of gore Hakuba-kun.”_

_“I’m alright with it as long as Miyano-san doesn’t mind speaking with a burned corpse,” Kuroba-san said bitterly causing Hakuba to frown._

“....very well.” Hakuba said moving to sit on the floor and leaning back against the bed, “If it isn’t too much trouble would you both minds joining me down here?”

Once they were both seated on either side of him, Hakuba concentrated on the both of them and reached out toward them.

“Your hands please?”

Akemi-san willingly put her hand in his but Kuroba-san seemed hesitant causing Hakuba to frown at him, “...Kuroba-san, I didn’t allow your appearance to bother me thus far so holding your hand is no issue to me.”

Reluctantly Kuroba-san slid his hand into Hakuba’s and he mentally winded at how...crisp Kuroba-san’s skin felt against his own.

As long as he didn’t break concentration, Hakuba would be able to maintain contact with the both of them.

“Right…” Hakuba swallowed nervously and shut his eyes. The last time he’d done this didn’t turn out too well for him.

It felt as though a sudden weight in his chest was steadily growing heavier and heavier with every breath he took. Hakuba subconsciously tightened his hold on both their hands as a sharp pain shot through his head.

_“Hakuba-kun?” Kuroba-san shifted closer, “Hakuba-kun what’s wrong?”_

Hakuba ignored him in favor of keeping his concentration and trying not to lean over and revisit what he had eaten earlier.

_“Hakuba-san?” Akemi-san tried pulling her hand back but Hakuba tightened his grip once more._

He was close. He could feel it, it was just within his reach….

Hakuba shuddered violently as the bond connected and he hastily let go of their hands in favor of stumbling to his feet and racing towards the bathroom.

 _“Hakuba-kun!”_ They both yelled before it was suddenly quiet and Hakuba supposed that meant they realized they could see one another now.

Hakuba barely managed to fall to his knees in front of the toilet and open the lid before he was curled over, gagging and shivering.

_“Oh my god.”_

_“Hakuba-kun what’s going on?”_

Hakuba ignored both of them and spat bile out of his mouth just as another full body shudder took over him.

 _“Damnit!”_ Hakuba watched blearily out of the corner of his eye as Kuroba-san knelt next to him. He reached out as though to rub his back but since Hakuba was no longer concentrating, at the moment he couldn’t even if he tried, Kuroba-san’s hand passed right through him.

Panting, Hakuba shifted around and leaned against the cabinet next to the toilet once it seemed his body was finished trying to make him throw up.

Kuroba-san moves with him and sat on the ground right in front of him, Hakuba could see Akemi-san standing in the doorway looking lost.

“M’fine…” Hakuba muttered, “Just….a side effect.”

_“Just a side effect?!” Kuroba-san snorted, “You look about ready to pass out!”_

“M’gonna.” Hakuba slurred as his eyes drifted shut, “I’ll….’plain later…”

Hakuba fainted to the sounds of both ghosts calling out to him.

_._

_.._

_…_

Waking up after connecting two ghosts so they could see one another always left Hakuba feeling like he’d been run over by a truck.

Thankfully neither his father nor Baaya was home to find him passed out on the bathroom floor.

The moment Hakuba regained consciousness both Kuroba-san and Akemi-san made a move to help him get up but neither could touch him, something that seemed to annoy them both.

“I...I’m alright,” Hakuba assured them as he stood on shaking legs.

_“What was that?!” Akemi-san hissed, “It looked like you were puking after an all-night drinking session on top of having the flu!”_

Hakuba raised a brow at the detailed description, “Speaking from experience?”

Her glare was enough to divert his attention to Kuroba-san instead. Said ghost had his arms crossed over his chest and was also glaring at him, which confused Hakuba.

“Kuroba-san?” Hakuba inquired.

_“...Never do that again…”_

Hakuba tilted his head to the side, “Huh?”

_“If we had known how badly that was going to hurt you, we wouldn’t have given you permission to do it!” Kuroba-san yelled but his mouth snapped shut when Hakuba winced and put a hand up to his head._

Hakuba sighed and calmly said, “There’s always a side effect to forming a bond and a connection. I knew what I was getting into, I’ve been dealing with this for almost eleventh years.”

_“You weren’t born with this ability?” Akemi-san asked._

Hakuba presses his lips together in a thin line as he replied tersely, “No.”

Getting the sense that they shouldn’t push him any further on the subject, both Kuroba-san and Akemi-san went off to visit their family. Akemi refused to say where exactly she was going but Hakuba didn’t mind.

It took convincing on his part to get Kuroba-san to leave. Thankfully they agreed to stay away for the rest of the day so he could relax.

Instead, the moment they were done, Hakuba pulled up all the news articles surrounding Kuroba Touichi’s death and opened a new tab to research Miyano Akemi’s death as well. Any to all notes would go in the small notebook he carried on his person at all times. 


	4. Rotten Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It figures the next time Hakuba runs into Conan it'd be at a murder investigation. Now he's got himself dragged into the case and witnesses Conan's rotten luck firsthand.

Getting locked in a basement with Edogawa Conan was most definitely not on his list of things to do that day, but then again neither was coming to Beika and getting involved in a murder case where the both of them ended up kidnapped by the killer.

Hakuba was already annoyed because it hadn’t even been a full week since he’d seen Conan at the Detective Koshien and his gunshot wounds were still sore from Tokitsu-kun hitting him and Kaito running into him at school full force. (It took a fair bit of lying to convince Aoko and Kaito that he wasn’t hurt when he couldn’t get up after Kaito knocked him down and Hakuba was pretty sure Kaito didn’t believe him).

The only reason why Hakuba offered to help with the case was that of his own curiosity towards Conan’s odd behavior last time they met and Akemi-san asking him to keep an eye out for Conan.

“Hakuba-niisan?”

Hakuba blinked realizing he got lost in thought when Conan was talking to him. He honestly couldn’t remember what they were even talking about in the first place but he was willing to bet that was due to the concussion he probably had after getting clocked in the head with the butt of the killer’s gun.

“I apologize Edogawa-kun, what were you saying?”

Conan stared at him with blatant concern, “Are you alright? We were talking about getting out of here…”

Hakuba hummed lightly., “I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“...Hakuba-niisan this is the third time we’re having this conversation…”

“Was it?” Hakuba frowned briefly, “Sorry, I’m pretty sure I have a concussion.”

“I figured as much,” Conan said dryly causing Hakuba to chuckle.

“Plus,” Hakuba shifted slightly, the cold basement wall and the concrete ground was biting at his skin through his clothes, “It doesn’t help that I’ve been jarring my bullet wounds so much as of late.”

“What?!” Conan’s head swerved towards Hakuba with alarming speed, “Bullet wounds? As in more than one? When were you shot?!”

Hakuba stared at Conan in confusion, “Hmm. Last month? Got my stitches out three weeks ago. Just a bit sore, really.”

“Last month..?” Conan’s stare turned accusing, “You were at the Detective Koshien before you healed?”

Hakuba shrugged and immediately winced afterward, “Mhm. It seemed strange so I wanted to check it out.”

“...You’re an idiot. Damnit.” Conan cursed.

Hakuba smirked as he leaned his head back against the wall, at least the cold was helping with his headache, “Not a very childish thing to say now is it?”

“U-uh. I mean-”

“Do not worry Edogawa-kun,” Hakuba glanced at Conan and winked, “Your secrets safe with me.”

“Wh-What are you talking about Hakuba-niisan?” Conan asked as he broke out into a cold sweat.

“You’re more than just a seven-year-old boy, aren’t you?” Hakuba switched his gaze to look down at his chained hands, “I have an idea.”

“H-huh?”

Hakuba struggled to push himself to his feet, “It’s just Jiero-san right?” Hakuba asked referring to the killer who’d kidnapped them.

“Y-yeah it is…”

“And he seemed worried when he saw I was hurt and that you were a child correct?”

“Yeah.” Conan’s eyes lit up with realization, “You think he’ll fall for it?”

Hakuba grinned, “Depends. How good of an actor are you?”

Conan smirked, “Pretty good I’d say.”

Hakuba shuffled over towards the door locking them inside and nodded at Conan once he was ready.

Conan took a deep breath in before he started yelling, and Hakuba was impressed by how hysterical he actually sounded.

“Help! Jiero-san, please?! HAKUBA-NIISAN’S NOT MOVING!” When there was nothing for a few seconds Conan added, “His head’s still bleeding! P-Please! T-There’s so much b-blood!” Conan began to wail loudly.

Almost immediately they could hear a single set of footsteps come running towards the room and the door was flung open in a panic. Jiero-san barely made it three steps into the room before Hakuba pulled him into a headlock, with his arms around his neck Hakuba slowly tightened his hold.

Apparently what he was doing was not what Conan thought he had planned if the shocked look he was giving him was any indication. Hakuba ignored him in favor of focusing on the struggling Jiero-san who was slowly losing strength as well as consciousness due to oxygen deprivation. Once he went limp in his arms, Hakuba eased him down onto the ground and turned towards Conan.

“Can you walk?” Hakuba asked panting, remembering how Conan had fallen down the stairs chasing Jiero-san earlier.

Conan gave a jerked nod in response.

Hakuba waited for Conan to stand up and take a few steps before deciding to take his word for it, together the two of them used torn pieces of Hakuba’s handkerchief to tie Jiero-san’s hands together and they confiscated his gun.

Hakuba held the gun down by his side with a tight grip as he leads the way out of the basement. They knew Jiero-san worked alone but it was better to ease on the side of caution. Once they made it to the living room of whoever's home they were in, Hakuba handed the home phone to Conan before collapsing down onto a recliner chair and setting the gun down on the nearby coffee table. Hakuba shut his eyes and told himself that he was only going to rest them while Conan was on the phone with the police.

“-kun.”

“-kuba-kun!”

“Hakuba-kun!”

Hakuba jerked awake due to someone calling out to him and someone shaking his shoulder, his bad _with the bullet wound_ shoulder. Hakuba hissed in pain and tried to shift out of the grip but arms stopped him.

“Hakuba-kun don’t move! You have a concussion and the medics are on their way over, please sit still.”

Hakuba forced his eyes open as saw police officers spread out around the room, two of which were leading a handcuffed Jiero-san outside, and if Hakuba was remembering his name correctly then Takagi-keibu was the officer that had woken him up.

"Let go please.” Hakuba said through gritted teeth, “You are applying pressure to an old wound of mine.”

Takagi snatched his hand away from Hakuba and his concern seemed to double, “I-I’m sorry! Are you alright?”

Hakuba nodded and looked away from Takagi in favor of seeking out a certain young Detective, he spotted Conan getting fussed over by Mouri Kogoro's daughter Ran. Conan looked over in that exact moment and caught his eye, Hakuba smiled at him and nodded before looking away just as medics came over towards him.

Throughout all of this Hakuba couldn’t help but wonder where Akemi-san and Kuroba-san were at. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just realized I have yet to actually write Kaito...whoops


	5. Equals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakuba has had enough of Edogawa's oddness around him same with Kaito's and decides to confront the two.

For some odd reason ever since he’d last seen Edogawa Conan two months ago, not only did he avoid him should they be somewhere at the same time but now Kuroba Kaito has been giving him suspicious glares on and off for the same amount of time.

The only difference was Hakuba couldn’t confront Conan but he could confront Kaito, that is if Kaito had stopped avoiding him every time he went to ask him about Conan’s behavior. According to Kuroba-san, during one of the heists, he missed Conan had warned Kaito that “Hakuba-niisan knows a lot more than you think”, which of course led him to believe Kaito knew Conan’s secrets. 

Everything came to a head after Akemi-san realized he’d been looking into her death and she’d broken down crying and pleading with him to stop before they find out and kill him. Hakuba couldn’t get everything out of her but she was willing to tell him who she really was, how she was a member of an organization and tried to leave with her sister but was betrayed and killed in the end. She did assure him that her sister was safe and Hakuba was glad for that at least, but when she said the same organization was after Conan he was not so glad anymore.

Kuroba-san who had been quietly listening in interrupted their conversation to ask if her organization had anyone who’d gone by the name Snake in it.

That then leads to Hakuba pulling an all-nighter and discussing everything both ghosts were willing to share with him and taking notes and trying to put pieces of the puzzle laid out for him together.

So far he was not liking what he was seeing.

Sadly, by the time the three of them stopped talking to one another and both ghosts had left, it was already nearing five in the morning and Hakuba was too wired thinking about everything he learned to sleep.

Which is what led him to receive after school detention for sleeping in class and who other than Kuroba Kaito was going to be in detention with him after the rather rude awakening he’d given Hakuba. Hakuba wasn’t sure how to feel being left alone with Kaito, it’s been three months since Kaitou Kid had an actual heist, with a crowd and all, and not just the police. Hakuba wanted to ask him why Kid has yet to make an appearance but Hakuba also knew if he accused Kaito yet again, something Kuroba-san yelled at him for, then he would deny it and wouldn’t speak to him.

Hakuba waited until the two of them were left in the classroom alone to clean up before he attempted speaking to Kaito.

“Kuroba-kun…” Hakuba finally said after fifteen minutes and 22.07 seconds passed in silence.

Kaito grunted and kept erasing the board.

“Would you mind telling me why you and Edogawa-kun have been acting so odd around me?”

“W-who?” Kaito tensed but thanks to his skill at acting, it wasn’t noticeable to any normal person had they been paying attention.

Though Hakuba was far from normal.

“Edogawa Conan, otherwise known as Kid Killer?” Hakuba raises a brow, “Surely as Kaitou Kids biggest fan you’ve heard of him.”

Kaito turned towards Hakuba and grinned, “Of course I know who he was! I just didn’t know if you were talking about him or another Edogawa person."

“It’s not a common last name,” Hakuba said blandly.

Kaito shrugged and quickly turned back towards the board, oddly focused on clearing any chalk from it.

“You won’t answer me?” Hakuba asked though he had a feeling he knew the answer, “...Very well then, I’ll simply have to ask Edogawa-kun myself.”

Hakuba could feel Kaito’s narrowed gaze on him but he ignored him in favor of rushing to finish cleaning the classroom. If he finished before it got too late in the day then he could go visit Conan before the Mouri’s and he went to sleep. Hakuba was well aware of Kaito watching him and he definitely noticed when he took out his cell phone and left the classroom altogether.

Kaito walked back in a few minutes later with an annoyed yet _Hey what can you do?_ Look on his face. Hakuba didn’t question him and ten minutes 56.23 seconds later, he was walking through the school gates heading towards the train station. He knew there was one train left heading towards Beika and if he hurried he would make it in time to be on board.

What Hakuba didn’t account for was for Kaito to follow him all the way to the train station and even purchase a ticket seconds after he purchased his own. Gritting his teeth, Hakuba ignored his classmate in favor of finding a window seat and resting his head against the cool glass. If Kuroba-san was there then he would’ve been able to tell him what Kaito was thinking, but earlier that morning Kuroba-san had stopped by to tell him how he’d be at Akemi-san’s house discussing recent matters. He wasn't sure if that meant the house Akemi-san's sister lived in or an actual building she liked to haunt.

It wasn’t until Hakuba arrived at the Detective Agency that he realized that Conan may not even be willing to speak with him. Kaito had vanished somewhere along the way, but Hakuba wasn’t put off by the fact if anything he knew he could on Mouri-san to let him inside since she’d confided in him on Conan’s safety during Kid heists before.

Knocking on the door, well after five at night, Hakuba waited patiently with his hands folded behind his back. A few minutes later the door opened and Hakuba wasn’t surprised to see Conan was the one who’d opened it.

“Hakuba-niisan!” Conan smiled, the fact that he didn’t even seem shocked to see him there solidified the theory of Kaito contacting him earlier. “What’re you doing here?”

Hakuba smiled, “Would you mind taking a minute or two to discuss something with me?”

“Oh! Hakuba-kun!” The door opened wider to reveal Mouri Ran standing there, “If I knew you were coming I would’ve made some more food.”

“I’ve already eaten Mouri-san, thank you however for the offer.” Hakuba said politely, “I only came to ask Edogawa-kun something I’ve realized about Kid’s previous heist.”

“You still should’ve texted me though!” Ran put her hands on her hips and looked down at Conan, “It’s alright though, don’t take too long otherwise you’ll food will get cold, Conan-kun!”

Hakuba stepped back to allow Conan room to enter the hall and he shut the door behind him, after a few moments which they both checked that they were alone, Conan spoke up.

“You have Ran-neechans’ phone number?” Conan asked innocently but Hakuba could see the confusion and irritation in his eyes.

“She’d given it to me after our first heist together,” Hakuba said.

“Why?”

“To keep in touch should anything happen to you while at a heist and in case she ever needed my help.”

“...oh.”

Hakuba sighed, “Edogawa-kun is there a reason for your disdain towards me?”

“Huh?” Conan’s head snapped up to stare at Hakuba in honest confusion, “What’re you talking about?”

“Ever since our kidnapping incident, you’ve avoided me and treated me as a threat,” Hakuba explained as he sat down on the ground in front of Conan to put them on equal footing. “Is there a reason for that?” When Conan didn’t answer him, Hakuba continued speaking, “Hmm. I know that I’ve treated you as I would any other teenager, partially due to your knowledge, but could that have upset you? Would you prefer I saw you as a child and not an equal?”

“I…” Conan scowled, “Please don’t treat me as a child, at least when it’s just the two of us. I don’t have any issues with you it’s just...you’re unpredictable. I don’t know you, so I don’t know how you’ll act in situations.”

“I see…Perhaps you should get to know me then? Oh and that’s not all of it now is it?” Hakua asked and chuckled when Conan glared at him. “Apologizes. I’ll keep my curiosity hidden until you are comfortable enough around me to let me seek answers.”

“...Thanks.” Conan smiled at him and Hakuba was content with not knowing. For now.

Now all he had to do was try and get Kaito to stop avoiding him and shooting him suspicious glares long enough to make the rest of their classmates wary and deny all rumors of the Unresolved Sexual Tension between the two of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep finding more and more amazing MK/DCCC stories to read~ Sadly, not all of them are Hakuba-centric. :(


	6. Words hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family drama is not something Hakuba is fond of, he doubts anyone is. So, he ignores it to the best of his abilities.

Being told not to say goodnight and I love you by your own mother hurts. Especially since it was something he’d done every night without fail. He wasn't close to his parents by any means, and more often then not his own mother treated him like a stranger. Yes, he’d known she was devastated by the loss of the family cat which originally was a stray but had been with them for a little over four years now. He thought buying a kitten for one of the maids little girls who often came to the house wouldn’t bother his mother too much. After all, it had been almost half a year since Pebbles passed away, Hakuba knew grief would not vanish, possibly ever, but it was capable of becoming less consuming.

He didn’t expect her to suddenly start crying, and threaten to kick the maid and her kid out of the house unless the kitten was taken away.

She didn’t even allow the ten-week-old kitten to go into the house. Because he was in Japan at the moment, Hakuba had to hear about everything from the maid herself, her daughter was hysterical and pleading to keep the kitten and promising to take care of it. The previous two their family had passed away due to old age and Hakuba knew how badly they wanted another. The maid kept assuring him that his mother’s actions were not his fault but Hakuba couldn’t help but feel like a horrible person for causing little Jessie to lose the cat after just getting him. Because they lived in the house with his mother, she was there for the outcome of each pet’s passing but she had never shown it affected her.

He only started tearing up when he called his mother, as he would every night, to say goodnight and he loved her only before he could even say a word she asked him not too because she didn’t want to hear it and hung up on him. She's never said it back to him but never before had she demanded he not say he loved her.

That was what hurt him more than anything.

He had school in a few hours and he just didn’t feel up to going any more, he couldn't forget Jessie's pleading over the phone to keep the kitten or his mothers' cruel tone, but he knew he couldn’t just skip unless he decided not to care about his record or grades anymore.

Gritting his teeth, Hakuba forced himself to get dressed for school and leave at an acceptable time so not to be late.

He didn’t pay attention to any of the lessons, something he knew would reflect poorly, he even ignored his classmates. Aoko was obvious in her blatant concern with her frequent glances and attempts at conversation, a few other classmates had tried talking to him but Hakuba simply stared at them until the left him alone. He needed to think about what he should do about the kitten, and how to properly apologize to everyone involved.

Kuroba Kaito seemed to be the only one persistent in bothering him today. Which, Hakuba thought was ironic since the one day he wanted Kaito to ignore him was the day Kaito decided to stop ignoring him. 

Hakuba could see Kuroba-san out of the corner of his eye watching him like a hawk and although it was unfair to the man, Hakuba had ignored him ever since he walked into the classroom and the elder Kuroba called out in greeting.

Kaito was pulling one prank after another on him and Hakuba was all well and fine up until Kaito decided to snort at him as he leaned into Hakuba’s personal bubble and ask jokingly, “What’s wrong? You’re acting as though someone died! Smile!”

Hakuba looked directly at Kaito with a blank look on his face, his relationship with his mother was rocky at best and had only recently gotten better, he felt he was qualified to feel the way he did. Kaito’s insensitive words, though he couldn’t possibly have known, hurt him and Hakuba frowned as tears welled up in his eyes but thankfully did not fall.

Kaito’s sudden distraught expression was the only indication that he’d noticed Hakuba’s teary state. “Oi-” 

“Please excuse me,” Hakuba said calmly, a complete contrast to the tangled mess of emotions he felt inside. Without a backward glance, Hakuba all but rushed out of the classroom, well aware of everyone’s eyes on him.

He couldn’t return back to the house without Baaya questioning him so he rushed up to the roof of their school building, at least there he could find some solitude.

.

..

... Or not.

He was barely alone for two minutes before Kaito came barreling through the door and skidding across the roof to get to him.

“Hakuba!”

He was somewhat curious why Kuroba-san wasn’t there but realized he must’ve gone off to give them privacy.

“Hakuba I-” Kaito gulped with a grim look on his face before bowing, “My c-condolences!”

“...” Hakuba stared at Kaito in shock, “...No one has died Kuroba-kun...I apologize for the misunderstanding.”

When Kaito looked up at him with earnest eyes Hakuba had to look away, "Simply...letting my emotions get the best of me...I-If you don’t mind I would prefer to be alone right now.”

Keeping his eyes on his lap, Hakuba expected to hear Kaito walk away and the door slam shut due to Hakuba’s rudeness, instead, he heard the rustling of cloth and glanced out the corner of his eye as a solemn Kaito sat uncomfortably close to him.

When Kaito didn’t say a word to him, Hakuba shifted over slightly just so they wouldn’t be touching, he wasn’t one to deal with constant contact with another. Hakuba pulled his knees up to his chest, folded his arms and dropped his head down into them.

At some point, he must’ve fallen asleep in that position because sometime later when opened his eyes the sun was on the opposite side of the sky which was darker. Hakuba glanced to his right when a weight suddenly dropped onto his bicep.

He was greeted with the sight of a passed out Kaito leaning against him. Hakuba felt an embarrassed flush coat his face as he realized they were, unintentionally, cuddling with one another.

Chuckling caught his attention and caused Hakuba to look over at Kuroba-san of all people who was smiling at them fondly.

Hakuba had never felt more mortified in his life.

_“Are you doing better now?” Kuroba-san asked softly._

Hakuba hesitated before realizing that he did feel a bit better even if the thought of what upset him still hurt, he looked down and nodded.

Now he had to figure out a way to wake Kaito up and avoid any questioning. 


	7. Not What it Looks Like

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakuba finds himself in a compromising situation with a stranger who has four ghosts around him. All of them are nutters in Hakuba's opinion though.

Kaito wouldn’t leave him alone. 

After Hakuba had woken the other teen up he insisted on following Hakuba home and even tried coming inside. His concern was off-putting and embarrassed Hakuba more so than before, but most of all it confused him greatly. 

Unable to help himself, Hakuba blurted out, “Why do you even care?”

Kaito had frozen in the doorway to his home and Hakuba immediately knew he shouldn’t have said anything if the poker face Kaito was now giving him was any hint towards how badly he screwed up. That and the disappointed and sad look Kuroba-san was giving him.

Kaito shrugged with a grin on his face, “Oh well, guess I was just curious is all.” 

Hakuba couldn’t help but feel saddened by his answer and it must’ve shown on his face more than he thought since Kaito shook his head and hastily said, “I-Ignore that okay Hakuba? I was worried okay? I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Hakuba took a deep breath before shooting Kaito what he hoped was a genuine smile, “I’m perfectly fine Kuroba-kun, as I mentioned earlier, my emotions simply got the better of me.”

“...There’s nothing wrong with feeling emotions…” Kaito said quietly.

Hakuba shook his head ruefully, “There is for me.”

Kaito looked as though he wanted to argue the point but Hakuba was glad and secretly disheartened when he didn’t. Instead, Kaito muttered something about having to hurry home and left relatively quick.

Kuroba-san shot him a look and made as though to follow him into the house but Hakuba shook his head and tilted it towards Kaito’s retreating figure.

“Please go with him Kuroba-san,” Hakuba whispered. He didn’t think he’d be able to stay near a parental figure without wanting to ask if he’d done anything wrong.

He tried texting his mother, it went read and ignored, and he tried to call but it was immediately hung up on.

Kuroba-san looked like he wanted to stay despite Hakuba’s asking him to leave but Hakuba was firm in his resolve. He just wanted to be alone at the moment.

He wasn’t entirely sure why but whenever something happened between him and one of his family members he would always remember all the bad memories associated with them, completely forgetting all the good times they’ve had together.

It all made him want to crawl in bed and stay there to avoid any future social interactions. An act he knew was immature of him and impossible to do. Entering his home, Hakuba called out letting anyone know he was there but wasn’t surprised to hear no response. Baaya has been leaving earlier each day due to complaints of her family because of her wasting all her time taking care of a child that wasn’t even hers.

Overheating that phone conversation hurt him just as much as his mother’s actions.

The moment he entered his bedroom, Hakuba forgot all about dinner in favor of crawling under his covers and pulling them up to his nose wanting nothing more than to hide from the world.

Apparently, his little nap on the school roof wasn’t enough for him because not even a full minute later he slowly drifted off to sleep.

.

..

…

_“Hakuba-kun?”_

_“Hakuba-kun, are you awake?”_

_“Come oooooooon! Wake up!”_

Hakuba groaned as his head protested loudly at whoever was calling out to him. He felt as though he hadn’t gone to sleep and instead went out for a jog. A very long jog while carrying weights.

_“I’m being serious, you need to wake up.”_

Hakuba jolted as the voice spoke directly by his ear and his eyes flew open as he turned and swatted in the general direction of the voice. He winced in sympathy when his arm went through it’s intended target.

“...Sorry.” Hakuba muttered looking away from Kuroba-san who sighed at him.

_“You look like you didn’t even sleep.”_

“Considering you just woke me up,” Hakuba began dryly, “Proves that I was in fact, sleeping.”

Kuroba-san’s deadpan stare was enough to make Hakuba snort as he flung his blankets off of him and was somewhat startled to see he was already in his school clothes.

_“Did you go to sleep in your uniform?”_

“....I suppose I did….” Hakuba quietly got changed into a clean set of clothes and pulled his uniform on top, a glance at his pocket watch showed him it was 6:53:32.04 AM which didn’t leave him with much time to eat breakfast but if he was being honest with himself Hakuba didn’t think he’d be able to keep anything down.

He hadn’t felt the best this past week and his little... emotional state yesterday seemed to urge his immune system to take a break. Annoyed but knowing that it was his own fault for not taking better care of himself as of late, Hakuba ignored Kuroba-san’s telling him to eat and rushed out of the house to get to school on time.

He made it into the classroom just as the bell rang. The teacher was already in the middle of taking attendance and everyone had their eyes on him, Hakuba knew it was because he was always one of the first students in the room not the last. Blushing, Hakuba walked calmly to his seat and sat down, only speaking once the entire school day and that was to say “Here.” when his name was called out for attendance.

It was midway through the school day that Hakuba felt a tickle in his throat and tried his best not to cough but only succeeded in making odd faces as he breathed in, held his breath then breathed out slowly.

He was so out of it that he didn’t even notice both members of the Kuroba family watching him the entire day.

He would’ve gone home and rested but nearly five seconds after the bell rang signaling the end of the day, his silver cell phone rang and his stayed back in the classroom as the other students left in order to hear over his classmates.

“Hello?” Hakuba answered as he packed away his school supplies, he was curious about why Mouri Ran of all people was calling him that very moment.

“Hakuba-kun! I know this is last minute but you’re out of school now right?”

“Yes, the bell rang 46.17 seconds ago.” Hakuba heard a  snort and his head jerked up to glare and Kaito who Aoko was standing next to and had elbowed harshly in the ribs.

“Would you mind coming over and watching Conan-kun for me? I already texted him to let him know you might be over.”

Hakuba asked in confusion, “Is there a reason why you need me to come over?”

“Well...I have to go to one of my Karate tournaments and Otousan was supposed to watch Conan-kun but he left on a case instead. Conan-kun’s still in school.”

Hearing how desperate she seemed Hakuba reluctantly said, “Very well. I’ll head straight over. Did you need me to pick Edogawa-kun up from school?”

Hakuba glanced back at his two classmates, Aoko seemed confused while Kaito was paling drastically, Kuroba-san simply raised a brow at him before looking at his son and chuckling.

“Oh you don’t have to pick him up, Conan-kun usually walks back with the other kids.”

Hakuba nodded even though he knew Ran couldn’t see him, “Alright then, good luck at your tournament.”

“Thank you Hakuba-kun!”

Hakuba hung up and placed his cell phone back in his pants pocket before turning to his classmates who were obviously waiting on him for some odd reason.

“What’s going on Hakuba-kun?” Aoko asked as she backed up to let him out of the room since Kaito was still frozen.

“Mouri-san asked me to watch over Edogawa-kun while she goes to her Karate Tournament since her father is not available,” Hakuba explained.

They both began walking down the hall before Kaito snapped out of whatever funk he was in and chased after them.

“So,” Kaito grinned, “You’re going to babysit!”

Hakuba shook his head and whispered, “It’s hardly like I’m babysitting an actual child.”

Kaito tensed and shot him a sharp look making Hakuba realize that he had heard him. Hakuba coughed lightly in an attempt to break the awkward silence that fell over them but instead, he continued coughing, with his breath catching every now and then.

Aoko quickly pulled a water bottle out of her bag and handed it to him, Hakuba took it gratefully and took a few sips before grimacing as his throat protested the action.

“Are you okay?” Aoko asked as she went to put her hand on his forehead but Hakuba quickly moved out of the way and held his hands up in a placating gesture.

“I’m okay, just a small cold.”

“Should you be around kids then?” Hakuba glanced over at Kaito who was smiling wryly.

“I’ll pick up some medication before I head over,” Hakuba assured both of them before heading off in the different direction to stop at a pharmacy before going to the Detective Agency.

.

..

…

He managed to get some aspirin and he took a few before hurrying towards the Agency since Conan should be getting out of school any moment now. He barely made it two feet up the stairwell to the Agency before a blonde haired, semi tan young man poked his head out the Café door and called after him.

“Ah! Sorry but no one’s home at the moment.”

Hakuba stopped and turned to face the man, ignoring the brief bout of dizziness that hit him, “Yes, I am aware of that. Mouri-san called and asked me to come to keep an eye on Edogawa-kun.”

The man’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully and Hakuba had to suppress the shiver that went down his spine. “Did she? Well, since the door is locked would you mind waiting down here until Conan-kun arrives?”

“Of course,” Hakuba made his way back down the stairs and somehow his foot slipped and he found himself falling forward.

The man’s eyes widened and he quickly lunged towards Hakuba who attempted to twist so that he wouldn’t end up smashing his face into the cement. With tangled limbs, both of them collided with the floor and Hakuba felt the air get knocked out of him, leaving him breathless.

“Are you alright?” The man asked just as out of breath as Hakuba was.

Hakuba gaped at the man as he realized exactly what sort of position they were in.

Probably due to his twisting around at the last moment, Hakuba was laying flat on his back and the man had one hand cradling Hakuba’s head with the other wrapped around his waist. The more embarrassing part was how the man’s body laid flush against his own.

“I-I…” Hakuba stammered, freezing as he saw four men leering down at the two of them, not in a malicious way but in a sexual innuendo sort of way that made Hakuba want to go hide under the covers for a very long time. 

The man glanced over his shoulder in confusion before looking back at Hakuba in worry and it was then that Hakuba realized the four men were actually ghosts. Now that he was paying attention Hakuba noticed their skins were somewhat transparent, but what surprised him was...they didn’t look dead, he was used to seeing ghosts looking the same as their corpses but these four men looked perfectly healthy if not a tad bit pale.

_“Geez, it looks like he’s about to ravish him!”_

_“Maybe the boy feels that way, look how scared he looks.”_

_“Well, it’s not helping that Rei hasn’t gotten off of him.”_

_“Hehe, maybe Rei does want to ravish him! I mean, it's not like either of them are moving away.”_

Hakuba froze, he couldn’t believe the four of them were talking about this man seizing him so nonchalantly!

“Ah shit.” The man cursed and slid his hand from around Hakuba’s waist to force Hakuba’s head in his direction, “Did you manage to hit your head?”

“I-I’m fine!” Hakuba said louder than he meant to but he was truly feeling uncomfortable, “C-Could you move please?”

Almost as if he were only just realizing the compromising situation they were in, the man blushed slightly and immediately moved off of Hakuba and rolled to his feet. A feat that should Hakuba had been paying more attention too would’ve aroused suspicion.

The man held a hand out to Hakuba and helped him up. Hakuba swayed slightly and the man gave him a concerned look again but Hakuba quickly told the man he hadn’t slept lately and that’s why he was a bit out of it, not because he had a concussion.

The man nodded and held out his hand again, “It’s nice to meet you, my name’s Tooru Amuro.”

Hakuba tilted his head, either the man had given him a fake name or the ghosts were haunting the wrong person, “...Though I would’ve like to meet someone in better circumstances, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well. I’m Hakuba Saguru.”

Amuro grinned at him and looked as though he were about to say something but the noise from behind them caught Hakuba’s attention. Hakuba looked back at Amuro only to see he was no longer standing there, and Conan had just walked up to him looking only a tad shocked to see him.

“Hakuba-niisan, Ran-neechan called you?”

“Uh..” Hakuba shook his head slightly before smiling down at Conan, “Yes she did. It looks like we’ll be in one another’s company for a little while. How was school Edogawa-kun?”

Conan started up the stairs and as he answered Hakuba’s question Hakuba glanced back at the Café door where the four ghosts were still standing and took in their appearances. Apparently, they all noticed because the one guy’s cigarette fell out of his mouth and they all started talking about him and then to him, but Hakuba ignored them and raced up the stairs after Conan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could always see Amuro and Hakuba having awkward interactions and I don't even know why. It's not like I've ever shipped them though I see the appeal.


	8. Four of a Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakuba's finished watching over Conan and attempts to go home but things don't go as planned.

Apparently the tournament was longer than either of them thought it would be because instead of an hour or two Hakuba found himself still at the Detective Agency four hours later and he was debating on whether or not to use the Mouri’s food and cook dinner or to order take-out, neither seemed appealing to him but Conan needed to eat.

“Edogawa-kun,” Hakuba waited until Conan was paying attention to him, “What would you like to eat for dinner?”

“Mm... Ran-neechan already made dinner, she just said to reheat it.” Conan mumbled before going back to the book he had in front of him.

Hakuba nodded and made his way into the kitchen, he was barely able to lift the plate of food out of the fridge with how badly he was shaking. 

Reheating the food was simple enough. Hakuba estimated that it would be done in four minutes so he leaned back against the counter instead of attempting to walk back out to the couch.

He would like the say he wasn’t surprised to see one of the four ghosts standing in front of him but he was a little out of it at the moment. So when he saw the man smoking a cigarette and staring at him, Hakuba flinched in surprise and smacked his head on the cabinet behind him.

The man's eyes widened and he took the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it into the countertop before reaching out towards Hakuba’s head. _“Are you alright?”_

Hakuba jerked away from him.

Not only was this ghost being overly familiar with him but he hated the feeling of ghosts passing through him, it’d already been past two hours since he acknowledged the ghosts’ so they wouldn’t be able to touch him now.

“Please do not touch me,” Hakuba whispered as he took in the ghost's appearance. Besides being a smoker the man was casually dressed in a suit with dark, wavy hair, decent length to cover his face should he choose too, a bit pale and his eyes spoke of seeing things others would run away from.

_“Sorry.” The man took a step back, “How can you see us? I mean I’ve heard about people who can see ghosts I just…”_

“Didn’t believe them?” Hakuba said dryly. “I can see you because it’s an ability of mine.”

Any further conversation was interrupted by the beeping of the microwave signaling the food had finished being reheated. Hakuba took the opportunity to turn away from the ghost and ignore him in favor of bringing the single helping of food out to Conan who had not moved from reading on the couch. Conan looked up at him as soon as he walked into the room, Hakuba set the plate down in front of Conan on the table.

“Be careful, it’s hot.” Hakuba murmured as he quickly leaned away from the food’s smell.

“You’re not eating?” Conan questioned as he set down his book.

“Not hungry.” Hakuba had to look away from the food otherwise he feared he was going to throw up.

Conan didn’t say anything but Hakuba could tell he was watching him closely and it unnerved him to have a little kid stare at him like that.

It took forty-five minutes and 36.53 seconds before Ran walked into the Agency and thanked Hakuba repeatedly to the point where he was becoming embarrassed.

“It’s pretty late out Hakuba-kun,” Ran glanced at the clock on the wall before looking back at him, “Do you have a ride home? I know you don’t live in Beika District…”

Hakuba shook his head, “No I don’t. Don’t worry though, if I leave now I should be able to make it for the last train.”

“You could always stay here,” Ran offered, “Otousan isn’t home yet so you can share his room with Conan-kun.”

“If it helps, you can take his bed!” Conan chirped, grinning a grin that was far too similar to someone else Hakuba knew.

“I’ll be alright.” Hakuba stood up and shook Ran’s hand before offering his hand to Conan who looked pleasantly surprised. “I’ll see you some other time then.”

“Make sure you text me when you get home okay?”

Hakuba smiled genuinely at Ran’s concern, “I promise.”

With that said, Hakuba bid them both a good night and left.

.

..

...

_“Maison Mokuba!” The man suddenly yelled, startling Hakuba, ‘That’s where Re-I mean Amuro lives…”_

“Why are you telling me this?” Hakuba muttered looking down at the sidewalk as he walked so that nobody could see him talking and think he was talking to himself.

The ghost had appeared the moment Hakuba left the Mouri household and had been bothering him since then.

_“Because he’s my friend.” The man spoke so quietly Hakuba had to lean closer to hear him, “He’s been living a life of three different people, he lost us but maybe….”_

“You want him to be able to have me?” Hakuba finished the other's sentence in confusion, “Why me?”

_“You can see us! Please...j-just make sure he doesn’t regret living. He thinks so many things are his fault but if I could just tell him-!”_

Hakuba stopped where he was, a couple of blocks from the train station and sat down in the middle of the sidewalk, it was late enough where there were only a few people out but they all gave him odd looks regardless. “Just because I can see you doesn’t mean I should help you. Not everyone believes in ghosts let alone being able to see them!”

_“You can prove it to him!”_

“And if he doesn’t believe me? What if he decides to call the police saying how I’m a nutter and all?”

_“A what?”_

Hakuba shook his head, “Forget it. I don’t even know who you all are and the other three didn’t seem too happy with you following me.”

_“..My names Jinpei Matsuda. The gruff looking guy who’s always chewing that damn toothpick is Wataru Date, The guy with the long hair is Hagiwara, and the other one is Scotch. I was on the Beika Police Department bomb squad, Wataru and Hagiwara were police officers as well.”_

“What about Scotch?” Hakuba tilted his head slightly as he could’ve sworn he heard someone call his name.

_“His situations complicated, but let's say he’s an undercover cop.”_

“Hakuba-san!”

Hakuba visible jolted as Amuro of all people came jogging towards him with the three other ghosts following behind him, each of them seemed worried.

“What happened?” Amuro demanded as he came closer.

“What?”

“It’s almost midnight and you are sitting on the sidewalk in the middle of the block,” Amuro explained as he looked Hakuba over, indiscreetly searching for any injuries.

“Oh.” Hakuba blinked, “I wasn’t aware I was sitting here for that long. I apologize, I’ll be on my way then.”

Hakuba moved as though to get up but froze where he was.

“...Your legs are numb aren’t they?” Amuro asked in amusement causing Hakuba to blush. 

Before Hakuba could even say a word, Amuro had grabbed ahold of his arms and squatted down low enough to begin pulling Hakuba onto his back.

“W-What are you doing?!” Hakuba yelped, accidentally wrapping his arms around Amuro’s neck as he stood up.

Amuro grunted slightly, “I’m not just going to leave you here Hakuba-san. Could you loosen your grip though? I doubt you want to knock me unconscious.”

“Sorry.” Hakuba quickly moved his arms to hold onto Amuro’s shoulders instead, “Ah...would you mind not calling me Hakuba-san? Hakuba-kun or just Hakuba is alright.”

Amuro hummed slightly as he took off walking in the opposite direction to the station, “Hakuba is it then.”

After a few minutes had passed with awkward silence, other than the ghosts starting an argument with one another one that Hakuba wasn’t even going to try and follow, Hakuba realized he didn’t know where Amuro was taking him.

“Amuro-san? Where are we going?” Hakuba tried to hold back a yawn but found it impossible.

“Well, the trains aren’t running this late and I can tell you aren’t from the Beika district so you can spend the night at my house, I’ll drive you to the station tomorrow.”

Hakuba tried to protest but Amuro was having none of it, eventually after five minutes had passed Hakuba gave in to his urges and fell asleep on Amuro’s back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All info regarding the four ghosts is taken directly from the manga, google searches and Detective Conan Wiki.


	9. The Flu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakuba's getting sick and other's are getting suspicious of him.

Waking up after his first peaceful nights' sleep in who knows how long left Hakuba feeling disoriented and confused. Mainly because he had no idea where he was.

The room he was in was simple, nothing to identify who it belonged too or where the building was located. Hakuba sat up and glanced at the window. Judging by where the sun was in the sky it seemed to be midday.

Hakuba’s eyes widened, “Damn it...” Hakuba flung the blanket off of him and saw his cell phone laying on the end table by the bed. Opening it he tried to turn it on but his battery must’ve died at some point in the night.

_“Oh! About time you woke up!”_

Hakuba watched as the ghost, Scotch if Jinpei-san gave the right name, entered the bedroom and sat down next to him.

_“You worried Amuro when he got you here and realized how bad of a fever you had!”_

“Amuro…?” Hakuba blinked, “Oh! So that’s where I am…”

_“Where’d you think you were?” Scotch asked amused. “Kidnapped?”_

Hakuba shrugged, “It certainly wouldn’t be the first time.”

“What wouldn’t be the first time?”

Hakuba twisted around to look at Amuro who stood in the doorway, carrying a bowl and a glass of water on a tray.

“Huh?”

“You said, “It certainly wouldn’t be the first time”, I was wondering what you meant,” Amuro explained as he walked over to Hakuba and set the tray down on the end table.

“Ah. I was just talking to myself Amuro-san.” Hakuba forced himself not to look over at the food brought into the room, he felt hungry but at the same time, he felt as though he was going to be sick.

Amuro raised a brow at Hakuba but didn’t comment on his behavior, instead, he laid the back of his hand against Hakuba’s forehead and frowned, “You’re still pretty warm…”

Hakuba leaned away from Amuro, “I’m alright, it’s just a small cold.”

“Hmm.”

“Amuro-san if you don’t mind my asking, what time is it?”

“It’s…” Amuro checked his watch, “3:15 pm. Why?”

Hakuba dropped his head into his hands and groaned loudly, “I missed classes!”

It took almost an hour for Hakuba to convince Amuro that he was well enough to head back to his own home, and then it was a fifteen-minute drive to the train station and then it took almost thirty minutes including stops and all for him to arrive in Ekoda District. By the time Hakuba made it to his house, it was already 4:23 pm.

What he didn’t expect was to find Baaya sitting restlessly in the living room, with Kuroba-san and Akemi-san waiting there was well.

Both ghosts looked relieved to see him and they hurried towards him as soon as he shut the front door.

“Botchama!” Baaya came rushing towards him and Hakuba felt terrible for having worried the three of them.

“I’m alright.” He assured her, “I ran into...a acquaintance last night and ended up staying the night, I apologize for worrying you.”

“An acquaintance,” Baaya repeated her disbelief showing on her face.

“Yes.” Hakuba gently eased himself out of her hug and headed towards the stairs, “If you don't mind I believe I’ll be taking a small nap.”

“But-!”

Hakuba made his way up the stairs and was proud when he didn’t stumble nearly as bad as he thought he would. The moment he entered his room he barely spared the time to plug his cell phone into its charger before he shrugged off his clothes until he was left in just his undershirt and the pants to his school uniform.

_“Do you know how worried we were?!”_

Hakuba groaned as Kuroba-san’s yell felt as though it was plunging needles into his head.

_“H-“_

_“Perhaps now is not the time Kuroba-san.” Akemi-san’s soft voice cut off the elder ghost and glanced pointedly at the dark bags under Hakuba’s eyes._

_“...Fine, but don’t think this means you’re off the hook!”_

Hakuba muttered under his breath and turned so his face was pressed into his pillows and not facing towards Kuroba-san and Akemi-san. The two ghosts spent the enforced silence wandering around Hakuba’s room, occasionally talking to one another while Hakuba pretended to be asleep until they left at which point he finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.

According to the clock on his nightstand, he wasn’t asleep for more than an hour before he was woken up by Baaya yelling out,

“You can’t go up there!”

Startled, Hakuba just managed to sit up in his bed and swing his legs over the side before his bedroom door flung open and Aoko stormed in with a sheepish looking Kaito following after her.

“Did something happen?”

Aoko’s glower was enough to freeze Hakuba in place, “Did something happen? YES, Something did happen!”

“Err…”

“Where have you been Hakuba-kun?! You left right after school to watch that little boy and next thing we know that boy and his neechan are at school asking for you!”

“They went to my school…?” Hakuba’s brows knitted, “Why?”

“Because you never let them know you got home!” Aoko yelled.

“We all came here to see you but according to your housekeeper you never came back home.” Kaito glanced around Hakuba’s room as he spoke.

Hakuba wasn’t sure how he felt about having Kaitou Kid in his bedroom.

“Conan-kun and Ran-san were really worried!” Aoko marched over to Hakuba and poked him harshly in the chest, “Make sure you let them know you’re alright!”

Hakuba nodded, “I will. I wasn’t able to contact either of them last night because my phone's battery had died.”

“So where were you?” Kaito asked as he flopped down into Hakuba’s desk chair and ignored the glare Hakuba shot him.

“... I ran into an acquaintance of mine and by the time I realized how late it was, it was too late to get on the train back to Ekoda so he allowed me to spend the night.”

As Aoko went on to lecture him about the importance of making sure his phone was fully charged and letting people know where he was, Hakuba powered on his phone and sent Ran a text saying he was alright.

Neither of them noticed the suspicious glare Kaito was shooting towards Hakuba or the way he tensed when Hakuba gave his excuse for not being home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapters a tad short, but that's because I've been working on the climax and the ending of this story.


	10. Phobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakuba's made it back to his house only he didn't think over the consequences of not coming home, missing school and having no charge to his phone.

After getting lectured by Aoko and then receiving a phone call from Ran who lectured him as well, Hakuba was not in the mood to deal with Kaito on top of still feeling ill.

Unfortunately, his feelings went unnoticed as his two classmates stayed at his home long enough for Baaya to invite (more like demanded) them to stay for dinner. His annoyance was enough to distract him from how unwell he's been feeling but the moment they were all seated at the table with food in front of them, Hakuba felt nausea creep up on him.

He couldn't allow himself to be throwing up, especially not in front of two women and his rival/possible friend.

Taking slow, measured breathes in, Hakuba smiled at Baaya in thanks before picking up his fork to hesitantly bring a small piece of meat up to his mouth. It barely touched his tongue and he was already regretting his actions. Forcing a polite grin on his face, he ignored Kaito staring at him in favor of answering all of Aoko's questions about where he was to where certain decorations in his home were from.

"AAHHH!"

Baaya dropped the plate of sushi she'd been bringing to the table and clutched at her chest as she stared at Kaito startled.

Aoko took one look at Kaito and the dish Baaya now had splattered on the floor by her feet before she burst out laughing. 

Hakuba noticed how Kaito's breathing sped up and his skin appeared clammy, the expression he wore gave way to how terrified he was in that moment. Hakuba followed Kaito's line of sight, preparing himself to see one of the possible enemies of Kaitou Kid, instead, all Hakuba saw was Baaya and the homemade plate of sushi.

He knew there was no way Kaito was terrified of Baaya no matter how scary she could be when she wanted to be. Which meant he was scared of... the sushi? Hakuba's eyes widened, ichthyophobia! He realized that would definitely explain Kaito's reactions anytime fish was somehow involved.

Hakuba cleared his throat, "Baaya, terribly sorry. I forgot to mention Kuroba-kun has an extreme allergy to fish, he can be a tad... dramatic in making sure it isn't near him."

"Heavens boy!" Baaya huffed, "Very well, I'll make sure no seafood makes it into the room."

Hakuba smiled gratefully at Baaya's back as she hurried to the kitchen, presuming to put away any seafood type dishes before they went bad. Hakuba slid out of his chair and snatched a napkin off the table before kneeling on the floor and picking up the pieces of sushi.

Aoko and Kaito were both staring at him with wide eyes and unreadable emotions on their faces but Hakuba ignored them in favor of making sure the floor was clean before Baaya would try and do it herself.

He was pleasantly surprised when Aoko knelt next to him and began helping him clean up the sushi. Hakuba took one look at Kaito and realized he was trying to build up the courage to come over and help them clean up the mess he inadvertently caused.

"Kuroba-kun just stay over there." Hakuba smirked over his shoulder at him, "Besides, it would look bad if Baaya saw you touching fish when I told her you're allergic."

Kaito nodded and looked down at his lap. Seeing how...down ridden Kaito seemed, Hakuba gently elbowed Aoko and gestured for her to go over to Kaito. Hesitantly she searched his face, apparently, she found what she was looking for since she smiled at him before heading over to Kaito.

After they'd all finished eating, Aoko and Baaya got into a discussion on how to make certain meals, as Aoko was stressing over what to make for her dad's birthday. Hakuba waited patiently for them all to look away from him before he took off running towards the bathroom, apparently, he'd be revisiting dinner that night.

.

..

...

"So…" Kaito began causing Hakuba's attention to divert to him, "You're sick right? I mean you were just throwing up-which ewe by the way, but is that why you missed school?"

"I admit I am unwell, but I'm afraid I missed classes because my acquaintance did not wake me up," Hakuba informed him as he finished placing the last of the dishes into the sink. Allowing a bit of sarcasm to leak into his voice Hakuba added, "Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

He would also admit that Kaito following him to the bathroom, watching him vomit for seven minutes exactly, there were a few moments he thought he was finished but just start up all over again, and then follow him to the kitchen annoyed him.

"Who's this acquaintance of yours?"

"Why on earth do you need to know that Kuroba-kun?" Hakuba turned on the faucet to allow the sink to fill with warm water before adding soap to begin cleaning the dishes. He wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling he shouldn't let on that he knew Amuro-san.

Kaito shrugged and grinned at Hakuba's back, "I'm curious."

"You and your curiosity," Hakuba scoffed before he set the newly scrubbed plate onto the drying rack and grabbed another to wash off.

_"He's worried about you." Kuroba-san said as he drifted into the kitchen from who knows where and hopped up on the counter next to Hakuba, "You should've seen how worried he got when that little boy and his older sister showed up at the school asking for you."_

"She's not his sister," Hakuba muttered quietly as he reached for another dish.

_"Ah~ My bad, I have to say... they both look oddly familiar to me. The girl I may have seen before when she was younger but the little boy looks like the son of an old family friend." Kuroba-san held his hand up to his chin, deep in thought._

Hakuba, curious about what Kuroba-san was talking about, momentarily stopped doing the dishes and watched Kuroba-san out of the corner of his eye.

_"The son of a Detective...but the age doesn't match…" Kuroba-san frowned, "It's actually uncanny how alike they are, Kaito's the only other person who could look like his twin…."_

"Who?" Hakuba inquired softly, not wanting to break Kuroba-san's line of thought.

"Who what?"

Startled, both Hakuba and Kuroba-san's eyes darting over towards Kaito who was staring at Hakuba with his arms crossed.

"Huh?"

Kaito sighed dramatically and draped his arm across Hakuba's shoulders, "You said "Who?", so I'm asking who or what you were thinking about that it made you stop cleaning."

"Edogawa-kun," Hakuba answered truthfully, and he was glad he did when Kaito's reaction made him all the more curious as to what Conan was hiding and how Kaito supposedly knew what it was.

"What about him?" Kaito leaned back against the counter and Hakuba wanted to laugh at how alike he was to his father at that moment, "Thinking about when you babysat him?"

"Hmm. Along those lines."

"BAKAITO!"

Hakuba leap back as Aoko came flying into the room covered head to toe in some sort of slimy glitter.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO BRING YOUR PRANKS HERE AND YOU HAVE A GLITTER BOMB IN YOUR BAG?!"

Kaito visibly gulped, "N-Now A-Aoko-"

Kaito didn't get to finish speaking before Aoko launched herself at him and soon began the all too familiar chase of cat and mouse between the two of them. While Baaya looked horrified by their actions, Kuroba-san was rooting for Kaito to run, and Hakuba couldn't help himself. He looked at all of them and simply laughed, almost uncontrollably.

The reaction was immediate. Everyone froze where they were and stared at him as though he were insane. Something Hakuba was beginning to think may hold some truth.

* * *

 


	11. Hush Little Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bored, Hakuba attends a party with his father and meets other officers throughout the various regions, including Hattori Heizo and his son Heiji.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pinterest is giving me so many ideas and I want to write them all~!  
> I really wish Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belonged to me, sadly they do not.

Shockingly enough, he was bored.

Usually, if he didn't have any cases, there were no Kid heists, and school was dull at the moment, then he would be in his library reading. Only he wasn't in the mood to read, nor did he feel inclined to talk with anyone. He was about to go to the entertainment center and perhaps watch a movie but that choice was taken from him the moment his father called.

Apparently, there was to be a social gathering of all heads of police from Beika, Ekoda, and a few stations in the Osaka region. His father wanted him to come and meet his fellow policeman even though Hakuba was pretty sure his father wasn't close with any of the others like he pretended to be.

Scowling at his reflection, Hakuba supposed at least now he had something to do.

The train ride to the restaurant took 16 minutes and 32 seconds, and it took 5 minutes for them to approve for Hakuba to enter since he did not arrive with his father. Which led to him being a minute late, others didn't seem to notice but Hakuba certainly did.

"Oh! Here comes my son,"

Hakuba followed the voice and saw his father waving him over to a table off to the side. There were two other people standing near him but Hakuba couldn't see who they were from where he was.

Sighing, Hakuba forced a smile on his face as he calmly walked over to his father.

"Saguru I want you to meet Hattori Heizo-san and this is his son, Heiji-kun."

Hakuba looked over at the duo and while Heizo-san seemed indifferent towards him, his son, on the other hand, looked like he'd been forced to drink sour milk.

Hakuba bowed and said, "It's nice to meet you, Sir." Looking over at Hattori's reddening face, Hakuba added, "You as well Hattori-kun."

Hattori shot him a confused look but Hakuba didn't pay him any attention as his father seemed to be finishing up any conversation with Heizo-san and was already guiding Hakuba away to meet other officers.

It wasn't until hours later when Hakuba had hurried out to a balcony to have just a moment away from the party that he'd run into Hattori again. Seeing the hot-blooded Kansai Detective already out on the balcony was enough to tempt him to go back inside but Hakuba didn't want to go back to the party just yet.

He walked to the other end of the balcony and stood there, they stayed in silence for barely a few seconds before Hattori turned towards him.

"What's wrong wit' ya?" Hattori asked bluntly causing Hakuba to blink at him.

"Pardon me?"

Hattori scowled at him and crossed his arms over his chest, "Why're ya actin' so weird?!"

Hakuba gave Hattori a deadpan stare, "Nice to know you're weirded out by me. If you don't mind I came out here for some peace and quiet."

Hakuba watched in small amusement as Hattori started muttering under his breath about "idiots" and "stupid Brit." before he scratched the back of his neck and look him in the eye.

"I was wonderin' why ya...why are ya wearing a mask in front of everyone 'ere?" Hattori raised an eyebrow, "It was like a different person in there then da annoying Detective I met before."

Hakuba leaned against the railing and calmly said with a smile, "How do you know this is a mask and not who you seem to think I am?"

"Wh-"

Hakuba frowned as out of the corner of his eye he saw a glare hitting the glass windows on the door leading back inside to the party. He started to turn his head away towards the other buildings when he saw the cylinder-like end of something pointing out of a window.

"Get down!"

Hakuba threw himself at Hattori and tackled him to the ground just as a bullet shattered the glass door where Hattori was standing just moments before, immediately people began screaming inside.

"Oi!" Hattori yelled pushing at Hakuba's chest.

Only Hakuba was already scrambling to his feet, racing back inside and out the front doors, ignoring all the others and heading towards the only possible building that the shot could've come from.

The building itself was long since abandoned, the doors weren't even properly locked so Hakuba was able to easily get inside. He was somewhat worried that he may run into the sniper coming down as he went up, but he dismissed the thought. A quick glance up the stairwells showed no one else on them and he doubted the sniper would risk injury taking the elevator of a poorly maintained building.

By the time he made it up past the seven flights of stairs, Hakuba was panting loudly and out of breath. He was generally a good runner but even he had his limits. From what he saw from the balcony, the sniper should be somewhere on this floor.

Shutting his mouth and breathing only through his nose, Hakuba slowly crept down the hallway and checked one room after another before he finally stopped at the last door for a room facing the restaurant Hattori and he was on the balcony of.

The door was already open, broken off its hinges due to rust if the state of the metal had any say in the matter. Hakuba quietly eased himself into the room, there were tarps hanging up all over the room, most from cables across the ceiling which kept him from seeing most of the room unless he moved the tarps.

Not liking the position this put him in, Hakuba stuck to the outline of the room and inched his way through the room, it was as he neared the windows and a women's voice sounded throughout the room that he froze.

"Damn!... Yeah, I missed. That guy with him pushed him out of the way…. got it…. Oh, shut the hell up... Come to pick me up already, Korn."

Hearing the name Hakuba's mind immediately went back to Akemi-san's explanation too how she died and how she had worked for an organization with alcohol code names. It could've just been a coincidence that the person on the line was named Korn but Hakuba didn't believe that one bit.

What truly worried him was the sniper in front of him, he couldn't help but wonder why they wanted to kill Hattori of all people and if they were as dangerous as Akemi-san said, then he was in trouble.

Not wanting to take the risk, Hakuba took a step back but he didn't see the pole laying on the ground beside him and ended up tripping over it. He fell to the ground with a loud bang, he froze where he was as silence engulfed the room.

Something whizzed past his head, stinging his cheek.

Hakuba could feel the blood running down his cheek and quickly dropped down to the ground just as bullets impacted the concrete wall behind him. Once the barrage of bullets paused, Hakuba ran to the room's entrance and took off down the stairs, three steps at a time. It was just as he was running down the fifth level stairwell that he happened to look up and see the sniper woman leaning over the railing to point her rifle down at him.

Cursing under his breath, Hakuba continued running as fast as he could until he made it to the first level stairwell at which point he leaped over the railing onto the ground level and took off running out the back way of the building. He didn't want to risk running into whoever this Korn person was. As he was running outside and away from the building, he saw a black car pull up in front of the building and the woman sniper running out to the car. It was too dark for him to see the make and model but he was able to see some of the woman's features at least.

Hiding in an alleyway two blocks away, Hakuba watched them drive off and how minutes later guests of the party all came rushing outside and into their cars. Hakuba assumed this meant the officers at the party noticed the assassination attempt or Hattori managed to convince them all to leave, it may have been the first one as the latter didn't explain the guests screams earlier. Unless Hattori wasn't the only intended target.

Worried that someone may have been killed, Hakuba made his way back to the restaurant. He barely made it past the entrance before someone grabbed a hold of his bicep and pulled him off to the side down an unoccupied hallway.

"You Idiot! Where did ya go?!"

Hattori grabbed Hakuba's other arm as well and forcibly turned him to face him, the reaction was immediate. Hattori's voice trailed off and his eyes focused on Hakuba's face, he seemed to pale slightly as he saw the blood.

"What the…"

"Could you let go of me." Hakuba tried to shrug Hattori off irritably. He was sweaty, still slightly out of breath, his suit was no doubt dirtied and his body was sore.

Hattori didn't let go, instead, his grip tightened, "Ya got shot?"

"It's just a graze," Hakuba sighed knowing Hattori wouldn't let up on the matter until he knew what he needed to know, "I ran after the sniper and she shot at me."

"WHAT?!"

"Stop yelling!" Hakuba snapped, "I don't see why you're so shocked, Snipers shoot, I was shot. That's all. Now, will you please be quiet and let me finish telling you what happened?"

When Hattori didn't respond Hakuba nodded at him, "Wasn't so hard now was it? Anyway, the sniper was a woman, although I don't know why an assassin would be after you of all people. I found her in the last room facing the restaurant on the seventh level at exactly 10:23:04 PM. She didn't see me but she heard me which is why she only managed to graze me."

Hakuba leaned towards a grim looking Hattori and whispered, "She was on the phone with her partner, Korn."

Just that one word and Hattori closed off any to all emotions but he couldn't control the way his body reacted as he paled drastically, his eyes widened in fear and his hands clenched into fists. Hakuba watched all of this intently before softly stating, "You know who they are."

"Nah," Hattori looked away and turned his cap around on his head so it was facing backward, "I don' know who they are."

"You're lying." Hakuba declared and ignored the pissed off to the point of pleading glare Hattori was giving him, "...Fine. I'll mind my own business for now."

Turning around Hakuba threw over his shoulder, "But make sure you and Edogawa-kun are careful. Especially if it's the crows after you."

Hakuba almost lost his balance as Hattori jerked on his arm and forced him to look at him once again, "Da hell do ya mean by that!"

" _One for sorrow_

_Two for mirth_

_Three for a wedding_

_And Four for a birth_

_Five for silver_

_Six for gold_

_And Seven for a secret never to be told_ ,"

Remembering the old nursery rhyme he'd heard countless times growing up and what he knew of the organization, Hakuba muttered under his breath, "They seem to come in flocks...", for some reason startling Hattori badly enough that he'd let go to stare at Hakuba with an unreadable expression. 

Not waiting around for Hattori to realize his grip had loosened, Hakuba quickly took off. He needed to speak with Akemi-san and Kuroba-san.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This the crow counting rhyme is real and I found it on Pinterest so it though it suited the situation/story well enough.


	12. Unlisted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confronted Hakuba does the only thing he can think of when he needs to get all the facts first, he flees.

Conan wouldn't stop calling him and Hakuba had no doubt Hattori told him about the sniper and how he was acting the night of the party, Hakuba had to admit he was acting a tad strange, however, he always had a flair for theater. it's already been three days since then and despite his annoyance at Ran giving his number to Conan and Hattori, he was more annoyed when he walked out of school and saw the both of them waiting by the gates.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hakuba sighed loudly and made his way towards the two of them. He barely walked an inch in that direction before Kaito appeared in front of him and stopped him.

"Where are you going?" Kaito grinned, "We have a group project remember?"

"I remember," Hakuba began dryly, "That we are meeting at Aoko-san's house at 5 pm."

Kaito shrugged, "Yeah but nothing wrong with starting early."

Hakuba glanced over Kaito's shoulder and saw both Hattori and Conan staring at him. "Perhaps. Sadly I have two stalkers to deal with."

"What?" Kaito whipped around and followed Hakuba's gaze.

Hakuba couldn't help but chuckle at how Kaito paled seeing the two detectives. "Oh? Worried about having three detectives in one place?"

Kaito looked back at him and scowled, "I'm not Kid."

Hakuba hummed, "I didn't say you were." Hakuba began walking towards the school gates and after a few seconds, Kaito jogged after him.

"...You sound like you don't want to go with them." Kaito casually commented.

Hakuba tilted his head towards him, "This is because I don't. Edogawa-kun I am alright with most days but that...pardon me, Hattori-kun and I do not get along well."

Kaito nodded, "Got it."

Hakuba was about to ask Kaito what he got, but before he could say a word, Kaito took off jogging towards Hattori and Conan. Startled, Hakuba followed after Kaito and the moment he made it over to the three of them, Kaito was offering Conan a white rose.

"So, Hakuba and I are supposed to be working on a group project today," Kaito clapped his hands together, "I know you Detectives probably need to talk and all but I'm not willing to risk failing. Sorry."

Hakuba shot Kaito a look, he knew as well as Kaito did that he wouldn't fail even if Hakuba didn't help out, it took him a few moments to realize Kaito was trying to help him get out of talking with the other two.

"Ya wouldn't mind if we came along would ya, right?"

Hakuba looked over at Hattori, raising a brow in his direction, "Why, pray to tell, would you two need to listen in on a school outing when you two aren't even attending the same school?"

_"They really want to speak with you about what happened with Chianti."_

Hakuba's eyes drifted over Hattori's shoulder to stare at Akemi-san who was standing a few feet behind him.

_"Sorry," Akemi-san smiled, "I haven't really been around much these past few weeks. I've been following these two, they're pretty cautious of you now. I...I think we should talk before you talk to them."_

"What're ya staring at?!" Hakuba's eyes snapped towards Hattori the moment he yelled but Hattori and Conan were turned away from him, trying to see what he was looking at. Hakuba glanced to the side and saw Kaito staring at him oddly.

Seeing how Akemi-san seemed to be impatient, Hakuba coughed lightly to bring the other's attention back to him, once he had it he told them, "Pardon me, but I seemed to have forgotten I have an appointment after school today," Turning his head towards Kaito, Hakuba added, "I'll see you at Aoko-san's house to work on the project, I'll try my best to be on time. If not I will call ahead."

"Hakuba-niisan!" Conan chirped, "What appointment do you have?"

"With a client," Hakuba said calmly, "Nothing for you to worry about, now if you'll excuse me." Hakuba nodded at each of them before walking past the school gates and down the block, he waited until he turned the corner before he took off running.

He didn't need to be a Detective to know Hattori and Conan would try to follow him. He made sure he stuck to large groups of people and when there weren't any he stuck to the shadows and eventually a few alleyways until he made it far enough from the school to reach one of the nearby hotels.

Walking up to the reception desk, Hakuba was slightly out of breath from running but was able to smile and greet the man behind the desk.

The man looked him up and down with an unimpressed look on his face before asking, "How many nights... Sir and your name please."

"..." Hakuba quickly pulled out his wallet, "I'm not sure how many nights but could I add on at a later date?"

"...Yes?"

Hakuba grimaced slightly, "My name is Hakuba Saguru but…. could you mark me as unlisted in the book please?"

And just like that the clerk's demeanor did a 180, concerned the clerk lowered his voice, "I can set you up in room B124, do you... do you need any medical attention? Or should I contact the police?"

Feeling his face heat up Hakuba told the man, "No... no, thank you. I'm not hurt it's just I need somewhere to hide out just for a little while….I apologize for worrying you."

The clerk nodded in understanding, "Don't worry, no apologies needed. No one here will let anyone except for you into that room, and if you find you need to prolong your stay simply call down and let us know alright?"

Paying for just the night until tomorrow evening, and getting his room card, Hakuba made his way to the elevator, the doors closing just was he saw Kaito walking past the hotel entrance. Hakuba was shocked to see Kaito there when he knew the magician didn't leave nearby, realizing that he must've been following him as well caused his stomach to twist unpleasantly but Hakuba ignored it for the most part. He felt bad about concerning the hotel staff, usually, those checking in and asking to be unlisted were those suffering some form of abuse and needed a getaway, but if Hakuba was being honest even if he wasn't hurt, things at home had been tense between him and his father.

The moment he was in the room, Hakuba locked the door and sat down on the floor at the foot of the bed.

"Akemi-san?" Hakuba called softly.

_"I'm here." Akemi-san settled down across from him and smiled apologetically._

"What did you need to talk about?"

_"Hattori-kun came to Beika as soon as he could after that party the two of you attended," Akemi-san began, "He waited until Ran-san and Mouri-san were gone before telling Conan-kun everything that happened."_

Hakuba frowned, "I suspected as much only...why is a child involved in all this?"

His question seemed to unsettle Akemi-san because she sat there quietly for two minutes 23.04 seconds before she answered him.

_"Conan-kun...he's more than just a smart child, I'm afraid I can't tell you more because it's not my secret to tell."_

Hakuba nodded in understanding, "I understand, there are some things people keep secret not because they want to but because they have too and because they do not have the right to tell."

_Akemi-san shot him a grateful look before she continued speaking, "All I know is that they both want to speak with you and try to get information out of you without having to tell you anything in return."_

Sighing, Hakuba let his head fall back to thump on the mattress, "...Somehow I had a feeling they would do that. I suppose I need to let them know that I am on their side but I am not willing to just go giving out information based on a whim."

_"...I'm sorry."_

Hakuba lifted his head and tilted it at Akemi-san, "What're you sorry about? None of this is your fault you know."

_"But I dragged you into this!"_

Hakuba shook his head, "I was already investigating part of the organization so I would've learned about your part sooner or later Akemi-san."

Akemi-san didn't say another word, instead, she sat there on the floor looking for all the world like a lost child and Hakuba wanted nothing more than to hunt down each and every one of the members of the organization and make them pay for ruining his friends' lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So I learned that if you ask to be marked as unlisted when checking into a hotel, the staff will make sure that no one knows you are there so you're safe.


	13. Witches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakuba, Akako, and Kaito all in one room? That's just asking for disaster.

He'd almost forgotten about the group project until Aoko had left him a voice message asking where he was at. He was three minutes late but due to him heading to the lobby and moving as though to leave he had to explain to the clerk, he learned his name was Hiro, that he needed to go meet up with a group for a school project.

Hiro-san nodded at him and gently reminded him to be careful and not to stay out too late.

His guilt from earlier came back but Hakuba reasoned with himself that the hotel had plenty of rooms and if he noticed there was none left and someone needed a room then he'd give them his.

After saying goodbye to Hiro-san and promising to be safe, Hakuba called a taxi and was able to make it to Aoko's house after eleven minutes only making him fourteen minutes late, which was shocking for him especially. The moment he rang the doorbell Aoko's father, Inspector Nakamori opened the door and looked him over.

Something Hakuba was beginning to hate with how often it's been happening towards him from others.

"You're late." Inspector Nakamori said gruffly with his arms crossed over his chest.

Hakuba shrugged slightly, "I apologize, I was with a client and had lost track of time."

"You? You of all people lost track of time with that time obsession of yours?" Kaito explained in disbelief clutching at his heart in shock as he fell back against Aoko.

Hakuba couldn't help but roll his eyes at Kaito's theatrics.

Aoko moved to the side causing Kaito to fall to the floor as she walked over to Hakuba.

"Hakuba-kun!" Aoko crossed her arms, mimicking her dad's posture, "If you had a case, you could've told me and you wouldn't have had to come!"

"That's alright Aoko-san, I would prefer doing my part for this project." Hakuba smiled.

Aoko grinned at him happily, "Keiko-san and Akako-san are waiting in the living room. BaKaito's been bouncing all over the place so we haven't been able to get much done."

"Why am I not surprised," Hakuba muttered dryly causing Kaito to glare at him.

Hakuba stepped over Kaito, who had yet to get off the floor, and followed Aoko to the living room where Akako was lounging on the couch while Keiko was kneeling on the floor by the table.

Keiko looked up at him and grinned, "Hakuba-kun!"

"Hello, Hakuba-kun." Akako said, grinning at him.

Hakuba greeted them both before settling himself down on the floor next to Keiko, he would've sat on the couch by not only was Akako taking up most of it but something about her unnerved him ever since he came back from a trip to visit his mother and saw she was a new transfer student.

He suspected it had to do with the way any orbs of spirits hovering around her vanish almost instantly, something which unsettled him greatly.

"Okay!" Aoko clapped her hands together loudly to gather all their attention on her, "Since we're all here and BaKaito's stopped distracting us...Let's get to work!"

Working on the project was relatively easy, the only issues that arise were Kaito refusing to work with Akako on their part and throwing a tantrum when Hakuba was asked to work with her causing Hakuba to roll his eyes at Kaito.

"Kuroba-kun either you work with her or I work with her," Hakuba gestured at Akako, "Koizumi-san doesn't deserve your rudeness and you clearly do not wish to work with her so I will. It's not a big deal, you just have to help out Keiko-san in my steed."

Kaito began grumbling under his breath and reluctantly sat next to Keiko who looked highly offended, causing Kaito to hastily apologize and offer her a flower.

Akako moved over slightly on the couch, leaving room for Hakuba to sit down, it wasn't a lot of room seeing how the moment he sat down Akako was leaning against the other end with her feet nudging Hakuba's thigh. They all worked in silence for the majority of the night, after two hours Aoko got up and headed to the kitchen promising them snacks, Keiko followed after her to help out leaving Hakuba alone with Akako whose feet were now fully in his lap and Kaito who was glaring at her harshly.

Akako let out a low humming noise causing Hakuba to look over towards her. She pulled her legs towards her and spun so that they were now beneath her as she got to her knees and leaned towards Hakuba who pointedly looked away as her low hanging shirt revealed a lot of her cleavage.

A loud bang caused Hakuba to divert his eyes towards Kaito who had jumped to his feet and in the process knocked over Keiko's laptop which Hakuba hoped didn't break. Kaito began making his way towards them but Akako flung her arm out towards him and held it there, as she did that Kaito stopped moving.

Hakuba's head snapped over to Akako and he was only slightly surprised as he said, "You're a witch."

"Most people wouldn't come to that deduction immediately," Akako said coldly.

Hakuba's eyes narrowed, "Would you mind letting Kuroba-kun go? He's annoying but I'm certain he doesn't wish to be held against his will."

Akako sighed lightly, waving her hand and Kaito, whose body apparently didn't catch up to the fact it was forcibly stopped and released, came barrelling towards them until he situated himself on the couch between Hakuba and Akako. Kaito was practically sprawled out in Hakuba's lap with how close he was.

Hakuba shoved at Kaito's shoulder but he refused to move or take his gaze off of Akako.

Akako ignored Kaito and stared at Hakuba without blinking, after 45.23 seconds she blinked and her eyes widened, "You...you have a lot of spiritual energy surrounding you…."

"Don't put a spell on him!" Kaito snapped.

Akako finally looked at Kaito and scowled, "I'm not! Men are simply attracted to me and all I'm doing is looking around him. He has years worth of spiritual energy buzzing in the air around him!"

Frowning, Hakuba cut into the conversation, "Pardon me Koizumi-san, I admit you are a beautiful young woman but that does not mean I have a crush on you. Kuroba-kun as for you, would you kindly get out of my lap already!"

Akako looked as though she was insulted by Hakuba's words which he realized she may have been and Kaito looked confused before apparently just realizing how close he was to Hakuba. Kaito scrambled to get out of Hakuba's lap but because Akako wasn't moving back to give him room, all Kaito managed to do was knock himself and Hakuba off the couch.

"Omph!" Hakuba grunted as the side of his head smacked against the corner of the table on the way down.

"Owowow~!" Kaito sat up and twisted around to glare at Akako who looked highly amused with the situation.

"Kuroba!" Hakuba snapped forgoing the honorific, and holding his hand against where he smacked his head, "Get off!"

Hakuba shoved Kaito so he fell back against the couch and gave him enough room so that Hakuba could Schoch back away from him.

"Oi…" Kaito eyed Hakuba warily before his eyes widened, "Crap, did you hit your head? I'm sorry! Lemme see it!"

Hakuba sighed, "I'm fine. It's just a bump."

"Let me see!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Damn Hakuba just let me see it!" Kaito tackled Hakuba to the floor and wrestled his hand away from his head, Hakuba could've used his Judo knowledge to knock Kaito off of him but he didn't want to hurt him. So Hakuba reluctantly laid there and allowed Kaito to prod at his forehead until he was satisfied with what he saw. After a few minutes, Kaito finally leaned back and declared Hakuba fine, and said he just needed an ice-pack.

.

..

…

Hakuba stopped by his house and packed a light suitcase with a few pairs of clothing, three books, his school stuff and some of the file Scotland Yard faxed him earlier that week. The lobby was mainly empty by the time Hakuba made it back to the hotel with his things, and despite Kaito saying he just needed an ice-pack Hakuba now had a pretty large bruise on his temple. He wasn't worried about a concussion but the look the night clerk sent him told him he must've looked bad.

Smiling reassuringly at her, Hakuba hurried towards the elevators and was mentally debating on whether or not to go to school tomorrow or to have a long overdue talk with a couple of ghosts.


	14. Herbs, Wishes, and Rejection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakuba attempts to do something good only it backfired on him, horribly.

Thankfully he hasn't received any more phone calls from Conan ever since he'd been ignoring them for a few days straight. He felt a tab bad about it since Conan was just trying to contact him but He was annoyed that Ran had given out his phone number without his permission. Something similar has happened to him back in England and that ended with his number being tracked and him almost getting killed. Not that he thought either Conan or Hattori would try to kill him but the event left him feeling unsettled with his number being given out so easily and resulted in his developing of a phobia, something he didn't wish to dwell on.

Deciding he should at least apologize for his rudeness, Hakuba left the hotel early in the morning and took a train to Beika.

Multiple people were giving him odd looks when he stepped off the train, out near the shady part of Beika, Hakuba knew there was a store owned by the aunt of an old client of his nearby and he wanted to go there first. Making his way to the shop lead to Hakuba running into three attempted muggings and two assaults before he found himself standing outside a rundown bookstore with the windows cracked and dust floating in the air as he opened the door.

The bell above the door fell down and just barely missed hitting his head, Hakuba shut the door with a bit more force than necessary, but if he was being honest, the shady part of Beika was more like a ghost town with how many spirits he saw wandering around.

"We're closed!" Someone, a female, yelled from what Hakuba supposed was the back room of the shop.

Clearing his throat, Hakuba called back to her, "I apologize, I was not aware of the shop's hours but Izumi Katsuki recommended should I need help to come here."

"Oh!" A series of banging noises and what Hakuba assumed was thing falling to the ground echoed throughout the tiny shop and suddenly a door Hakuba did not see was flung open. A woman with fiery red hair, a pale complexion, and startling green eyes grinned at him widely. "What's your name dear?"

Hakuba held his hand out towards her, if what Izumi told him was correct then she had married into a Japanese family and was more use to western customs, "My name is Saguru Hakuba, It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hakuba…?" The woman muttered before her eyes widened in barely contained glee, "Oh! The handsome Detective who brought my nephew back home! Sit down sweetheart, please sit down, I'm Tracie Charles but you can go ahead and call me Trace."

Blushing slightly, Hakuba allowed himself to be guided through the doorway into the back room, a room that was lit only by candles and was filled with an assortment of books, plants, and a few empty bird cages. There was a chair behind a small desk and two bean bag's off to the side, Hakuba let himself fall back onto the blue on while Ms. Charles took the green one for herself.

"Now. What did you need my help with?"

Hakuba fumbled slightly to pull out a folded list from his back pocket, "Would I be able to purchase a few items from you and borrow your backroom for a moment?"

"Ooh, are you a witch in training?"

"No," Hakuba shook his head, "I know a witch but at the moment she is merely an acquaintance of mine. I'm simply testing out a theory."

"Do you and this witch not get along?" raised a brow as she leaned towards Hakuba, "Or are witches people you are uncomfortable with?"

"I do not have any issues with people who have special abilities or those who practice real magic. She simply...causes me unease at times." Hakuba frowned slightly, "I believe it is because we do not know each other well. That and I realized something about that unsettled me greatly."

Ms. Charles nodded in understanding, "I get what you mean. I'm not a witch, though I have met my fair share of them, I simply gather and sell ingredients or equipment people with abilities just like, or similar enough to yours need. Perhaps she is just as uneasy around you as you are around her."

Hakuba looked off to the side pondering over what Ms. Charles had said, realizing this she gently took the list from him and set about gathering what he needed.

Five minutes later she set everything down on a clean space on the floor, she quietly wished him good luck and closed the door behind her. Hakuba thanked her as she left and sat himself down by the materials she brought him. Due to past experiences and a bit of research, Hakuba had a theory on how he could allow for another to see ghosts as well as he could.

The theory was to make an ordinary omamori then add some personal bits such as a hair and a drop of blood. The hard part came when he needed to do the last step; adding his spiritual energy to the omamori.

Placing the omamori on the floor right in front of his knees, Hakuba bent so his forehead was nearly touching the charm and softly began speaking under his breath.

"Revelare Veritas Spirituum ostensum est...Revelare...Revelare." Hakuba tensed as a slight tingling sensation spread throughout his body before moving towards pins and needles pricking his skin, "Veritas Spirituum ostensum est...Ne videatur eorum...Revelare!"

His entire body jerked as all his energy seemed to sap out of him, leaving him to collapse to the floor as blood rushed to his head and it started pounding. His eyes stung and his throat felt dry as he tried to swallow. Shivers racked through his body as it began convulsing. The door flung open and Ms. Charles raced into the room just was Hakuba's eyes rolled back.

.

..

…

Groaning Hakuba lifted his hand to rub at his temple as a headache greeted him upon waking up. It felt as though his entire body was filled with lead.

"I see what Izumi meant when he said you had a habit of giving people heart attacks." The dry tone which Ms. Charles spoke with caused Hakuba to wince.

"I apologize."

"Just don't do it again," Ms. Charles waved the apology off, "Did you at least managed to finish what you needed to?"

Hakuba smiled tiredly, "I did."

Ms. Charles smiled back at him before slowly helping him sit up. "Careful now." She warned as he leaned heavily to the side, only staying upright due to her holding him.

"Ms. Char-I mean, Trace-san, Thank you, for everything."

"Anytime kiddo, and I mean that." Ms. Charles lightly ruffled Hakuba's hair, "Try to take it easy alright? I know you plan on heading out regardless of what I say but be careful and if you need any help my numbers written on the paper in your breast pocket."

"Thank you." Hakuba murmured gratefully.

.

..

...

Remembering the way back to Amuro's apartment building, Hakuba hailed a taxi once he was out of the worst part of Beika's more violent area and gave the man directions to Amuro's place. He held the Japanese charm omamori tightly in his fist, with the extra ingredients and spirit energy he added to it he hoped it would work.

Fifth-teen minutes later, Hakuba was paying the taxi driver who no doubt thought he was one of the teenage delinquents considering where Hakuba was being picked up from and headed into

Maison Mokuba. He was glad he could remember the way to Amuro's apartment despite only having been there once.

It wasn't until he was standing outside Amuro's door with his fist raised, in preparation to knock, that he realized Amuro might not have been home. Deciding to see if he was home instead of jumping to conclusions, Hakuba gently knocked on the door.

24.08 seconds later the door opened and Amuro looked surprised to see him but also pleased.

"Hakuba!" Amuro opened the door all the way, revealing his four friends hovering around him, "What're you doing here? Are you feeling any better?"

"Hello Amuro-san," Hakuba greeted before he entered the apartment and slipped off his shoes, "I needed to speak with you about a certain matter, and I am feeling better now, thank you for your hospitality and for watching over me when I...lose consciousness." Hakuba rushed out the last bit as his cheeks heated up.

Amuro smiled politely at him before leading the way to the kitchen, offering to make some tea for the both of them. The moment Amuro was out of earshot Jinpei-san and Date-san both make their way over towards him while Scotch watched Amuro from the doorway and Hagiwara-san entered the kitchen.

_"So...What're you doing back here?" Jinpei-san asked grinning._

Hakuba sighed, "As much as I oppose letting others know the truth...you four...I have a feeling it would be best if Amuro-san knew the truth and soon."

_"A feeling? What type of feeling?" Date-san got an intense look on his face as he stared at Hakuba._

Hakuba stayed silent, he didn't want to admit that he'd been having nightmares more frequently since he met the five of them and in each dream, Amuro never had a happy ending.

"Hakuba?"

Hakuba snapped himself out of it and smiled at Amuro in thanks as he set the tea down in front of him. "Thank you Amuro-san."

They both sat there in silence for a few minutes, Hakuba idly noted how the ghost all appeared to be annoyed with the quiet and attempted to fill it themselves. Eventually, Amuro started them on a few common small talk conversations before finally asking Hakuba why he'd come over to see him.

Realizing he could no longer put this conversation off, Hakuba set down his tea and stared at Amuro solemnly. "I told you how I needed to speak with you, this conversation may seem unorthodox but please take me seriously."

Amuro seemed amused but understood Hakuba was being serious as he nodded at him to continue.

It took nine minutes, 32.08 seconds of storytelling on Hakuba's part of ghosts, and of things, Hakuba shouldn't know about Amuro for that amusement to vanish and be replaced by a fury so great Hakuba flinched. What sealed the deal was Hakuba describing in detail who Jinpei-san, Date-san, Scotch, and Hagiwara-san were, their jobs and what they looked like.

"...This isn't funny." Amuro said coldly, hunched over as he stared down at the table, his hand twitching slightly.

"I'm not jokin-" Hakuba shut his mouth, cutting himself off as Amuro leaped to his feet with the chair falling to the ground behind him, the noise causing Hakuba to wince slightly.

Hakuba pressed his lips together in a thin line as Amuro glared at him. Scotch was standing next to Amuro and yelling at him to calm down but Hakuba thought it was pointless when Amuro couldn't even see him let alone hear him. What happened next was too fast for Hakuba to process it fully before he found himself laying on his back on the cold floor with Amuro straddling his waist, and a familiar pounding in his head.

Amuro grabbed ahold of his shirt collar and pulled Hakuba up towards him as he hissed, "What the hell are you playing at?!"

 _"Oh fuck,"_  Date-san was kneeling by Hakuba's head and asking him if he was alright but Hakuba couldn't focus on him.

Making that charm for Amuro took a lot out of him, not to mention his head still hurt from when he hit it at Aoko's house. Planting his feet flat on the floor, Hakuba bucked his hips up causing Amuro to fall off of him, Hakuba quickly rolled over so he was the one sitting on top of Amuro.

Leaning down towards Amuro's face Hakuba spat out, "Telling people like you... it never turns out well. They said to trust you, that you would believe me, but I frankly don't care if you do or not. The charms only good when you're alone unless it's me with you. I only made it powerful enough to support your energy, not anyone else's." Lowering his voice, Hakuba quietly added, "I did my part... whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you. However, I won't stand around and wait to hear it."

Getting to his feet, Hakuba left Amuro on the floor and ignored Date-san and Jinpei-san as they both lunged towards him, spouting apologies and asking him if he was okay, and telling him to wait a moment. Scotch and Hagiwara-san were both standing around Amuro seemingly frozen in shock from what just took place. His annoyance with the situation was to the point where he wanted to honestly bash his head in a wall to avoid slugging Amuro, however, Hakuba realized that it was beginning to get late and he had yet to go visit Conan. He still needed to settle things with Conan and possibly Hattori before things got worse and they tried dragging Kaito into it, or they started showing up at his house instead.

Leaving behind Amuro and the four ghosts left a bad taste in his mouth and a heavy feeling in his chest, weighing him down but Hakuba knew if he didn't leave then he might say something he'd come to regret. Walking in a brisk pace, Hakuba ignored the curious glances people threw his way and focused on making it to the Detective Agency without any started walking up the stairs to the agency the same moment the two detectives he was looking for walked out.

The both of them froze at the top of the stairwell, clearly surprised to see him, and Hakuba wished they would've come down to him as his head was killing him. The moment he was standing in front of the both of them, both were standing in defensive positions and Hattori looked angry to see him, Hakuba opened his mouth to speak but found he couldn't summon the strength to do so.

Hattori's mouth was moving, clearly speaking to him but Hakuba couldn't hear a single word. It was due to Hattori being the only one capable of holding him that Hakuba knew who caught him as he suddenly found himself listing sideways. Apparently, he was affected by making the omamori more than he originally thought.

"Oi?! What's wrong wit' ya?" Hattori staggered under Hakuba's larger frame and Hakuba could do nothing more than blink tiredly down at Conan.

"Hakuba-niisan?" Conan reached out towards his hand that was hanging down, Hakuba thought it was somewhat odd how easily a child could find a pulse. Conan's eyes widened,"Oi Hattori his pulse is way too slow."

"The heck did ya get yerself into?" Hattori muttered before gently lowering Hakuba to the ground and situating himself next to him. "Call an ambulance K-Conan-kun."

Conan quickly took out his cellphone and rushed into the house calling for "Ran-neechan" to talk to the 119 operators, he came back out moments later without his cell. "Hattori, how is he?"

"Same I guess? I don' even know what's wrong wit' him!"

"M'fine...no am'ulance…" Hakuba could barely move his mouth but he needed to get his point across, "Only ho'pital if...seizure…"

It had only happened twice in his life after using his own self as a median for ghosts; the first time when he was younger just learning about bonds and the second time had been earlier at Ms. Charles shop.

"This has happened before?" Conan demanded, both his and Hattori's demeanor changing.

Hattori shook Hakuba's shoulder, "Idiot! Stay awake!"

Hakuba hummed slightly as his eyes began drifting shut, with how heavy they felt he couldn't keep them open any longer.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Sun Poisoning hurts a lot but that's my fault for being outside for nine hours without sunscreen. This chapters a tad longer to make up for the update taking so long.


	15. No "I" in Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuck in the hospital, Hakuba is cornered by Hattori, Conan, and an odd nurse.

Waking up in the hospital with Mouri Ran asleep by his bedside, Conan in her lap possibly asleep as well and seeing Hattori in the other chair by the bed all succeeded in confusing Hakuba, that is until he remembered what happened.

Realizing how badly he'd screwed up, Hakuba forced himself to sit up in the hospital bed, he was glad when none of the others moved, so that meant they really were all asleep. Hakuba glanced over at a clock on the wall and saw it was almost four in the morning, it was nearing seven at night by the time he finally made it to the Detective Agency.

Which meant he was unconscious for almost nine hours unless today wasn't the next day but he didn't think he slept for that long.

It was as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and felt the stinging tug of something in his arm that Hakuba blinked down at the supposed IV he was on before reaching for it and swiftly pulling it out. A task that hurt but was done easily enough.

_"Hakuba-san was that really necessary?" Hakuba's head snapped up to stare at a solemn-looking Date-san floating by the doorway. "May I come in?"_

Wordlessly, Hakuba nodded his head.

_"You're in the hospital….Is this perchance because of you helping us?" Date-san made his way over towards Hakuba and sat next to him on the bed, "You didn't look too good when you showed up yesterday and looked even worse when you left."_

"...I'm fine…" Hakuba stared off to the side.

_"You're not fine if you wind up in the hospital!" Date-san jumped to his feet and moved so he was standing in front of Hakuba, "I saw you pass out at that Agency. Those two boys and that girl all but freaked out when you wouldn't respond to them."_

Hakuba looked down at his hands in his lap.

_"Hakuba-san, you started convulsing, badly." Date-san said softly, "They were worried you were going to injure yourself or bite your tongue."_

"...At least it wasn't a full-on seizure…" Hakuba muttered dryly.

"Excuse me?" Someone hissed from off to the side causing Hakuba to startle, "Ya really are some kinda idiot or somthin'!"

Hakuba watched as Hattori leaped to his feet and stalked towards him, "Do ya know how worried we were?! The Docs said ya were dehydrated, malnourished, exhausted 'nd ya had a mild concussion!"

Hakuba's eyes widened slightly in shock, he knew he wasn't doing too well but he didn't think it was this bad.

"Not ta mention ya were asleep fer so long!"

_"He has a point." Date-san chimed in as he stood up and moved towards the door, "I'm going to let the others know you're awake. Don't go vanishing on me you hear?"_

Hakuba watched Date-san leave before looking back over at Hattori when the other Detective began snapping his fingers in front of his face.

"See! Ya can't even focus on me or nothin'!" Hattori raised his voice to the point where Hakuba winced and leaned away from him.

"Hattori-kun please lower your voice."

"Lower my-!"

"Hattori, he has a headache remember?" Conan suddenly spoke up causing Hattori to snap his jaw shut and cross his arms over his chest.

When Hattori looked over at Conan however, he snorted when he took in how Conan was trapped in the sleeping Ran's grasp.

Conan flushed and glared at Hattori, poking at Ran's arm to no prevail.

"Neechan's a heavy sleeper huh?" Hattori snickered.

Frowning at Hattori's childish behavior, Hakuba gingerly pushed himself off the bed and after taking off the last of the medical equipment, a flatline appeared on the heart monitor, stumbling the first few steps, Hakuba made his way over to a startled Conan.

"You shouldn't be-"

"Thank you for your concern but I'm perfectly fine Edogawa-kun." Hakuba bent down and carefully pulled Conan out of Ran's embrace and set him down on the ground.

The door flung open as a pair of nurses ran into the room with a frantic look on them, once they saw Hakuba out of bed and standing by the side of the room they rushed towards him.

"Hakuba-san what on earth do you think you're doing out of bed?!" The taller of the two nurses roared, startling the other nurse.

The shorter one shot the taller nurse an odd look before saying, "Hakuba-san please sit back down, now that you're awake we can call Dr. Kirsokili in to check on you."

Not wanting to upset either nurse, Hakuba couldn't help but stare at the taller one as he slowly made his way back to the hospital bed and sat down on the side. Something about the taller nurse was familiar to him and Hakuba was surprised to see Conan staring at the same nurse with more intensity then he was.

Ran woke up just as the nurses were leaving so after telling him to take it easy and rest, she left saying how she would be back to visit him later. Hakuba was somewhat surprised when Conan and Hattori willingly left but he was also glad seeing how his doctor arrived two minutes later.

After a long thirty minute discussion on his health and the importance of staying hydrated and eating right, sleeping right, Hakuba was finally able to ask Dr. Kirsokili if he could have his discharge papers written up. His doctor didn't want him leaving for another day or two and Hakuba didn't want to stay for another day or two so they compromised on his staying in the hospital for at least another four hours. It wasn't even a full minute after Dr. Kirsokili left the room that Hakuba began his internal countdown till he could leave and Conan came back into the room with Hattori following him.

Hakuba took one look at them both and sighed before sitting back on his bed and gesturing at the two chairs in the room. "Well? Take a seat if you're both so adamant about having this discussion now."

Conan had the decency to look a bit sheepish but Hattori dragged both chairs closer to the bed and flopped down into one while Conan crawled up into the other.

Hakuba wished he had Akemi-san or at least Kuroba-san there to be on his side but he supposed at least he had control of the conversation for now. When neither Hattori nor Conan tried asking him questions or telling him anything Hakuba was confused but didn't let it show.

"You two wanted to talk to me did you not?" Hakuba asked pointedly.

Hattori's eyes narrowed, "What do ya know?"

"Be more specific than that," Hakuba clicked his tongue, "I know a lot of things, some which possibly don't even pertain to this conversation."

Hattori growled at him and Conan spoke up before an argument could break out, "What do you know about me?"

Hakuba locked eyes with Conan and he recited what he knew from memory, "Edogawa Conan, male, six to seven years old. 95 centimeters tall and currently attending Teitan Elementary with Mouri Ran and Mouri Kogoro acting as guardians. Member of the Detective Boys likes lemon and coffee, is extremely intelligent for his age and has the respect of over half the police force even if they are confused by his knowledge." Hakuba trailed off slightly to take in the slightly startled looks both Hattori and Conan were giving him, "Very mature and has a secret which he's kept hidden from most everyone but Hattori Heiji and Kaitou Kid know what it is. I suspect a few others know as well or at least suspect something"

"What... what the hell?" Hattori muttered giving Hakuba a crept outlook, "Did ya stalk him or somethin'?"

"No." Hakuba said dryly, "I observe when I can and what I don't know I research."

"...You said I have a secret…" Conan tilted his head, the light creating a glare on his glasses and keeping Hakuba from seeing his eyes, "Do you know what it is?"

"I have my theories but I told you before," Hakuba's mouth twitched, "I'll keep my curiosity hidden until you are comfortable enough around me to let me seek answers. I only know what I figured out and had seen for myself before I made that promise to you."

Before Conan could say anything, Hattori butted into the conversation, "What about that night with the sniper? Ya were acting pretty odd."

"How so?"

"We were havin' a conversation 'nd outta nowhere ya tackled me to the ground!" Hattori scowled, "Then ya took off runnin' and came back actin' weird."

Hakuba's eye twitched, "...I admit my behavior was... off but nothing too out of the ordinary. As for pushing you to the ground, well, I figured you would prefer that instead of a bullet to the head."

"What makes ya so sure they were shootin' at me?"

"Because we were the only ones outside, there was no one near the balcony doors either and I saw the rifle sticking out of the window so I wasn't taking any risks," Hakuba said dryly.

"Awe~ The two of you out having a balcony to yourselves! How romantic!" A feminine voice cooed, startling all three boys.

Standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame was none other than the taller nurse from earlier.

Conan snorted while Hattori's face turned to beat red in both anger and embarrassment, Hakuba simply rolled his eyes at the implications.

"Are you going to come in or just stand there with the door open?" Hakuba asked, "I can move back on the bed if you want to sit."

The nurse gave him a suspicious look before closing the door firmly and going over to stand by the sole window in the room.

"Err…" Hattori shot the nurse a look before glancing at the relaxed Hakuba and somewhat annoyed Conan.

"Relax Hattori," Conan pinched the bridge between his nose, "It's Kid."

"Kid?" Hattori repeated, "Wait. Kaitou Kid? The hell is he doin' here?!"

"Perhaps I just wanted to visit Tantei-san. I heard he was at the hospital." Kid said, looking entirely too comfortable to be in a room with three detectives and in a nurses dress.

"And ya knew he was here?" Hattori scowled at Conan and Hakuba.

Conan nodded, "I noticed the moment he came into the room."

"Hmm, I understand Tantei-kun but Tantei-san if you knew I was here why didn't you do anything?" Kid asked staring at Hakuba.

"Because you're apart of this conversation are you not?" Hakuba calmly checked the clock in the room and saw he had an hour before Dr. Kirsokili said he could leave.

"Why would I be?"

Hakuba gave Kid a deadpan look, "Because you are all involved in the same problem, more so than you may believe."

"What does that mean?" Conan asked.

Hakuba smiled at Conan and simply said, "Tell me what you're comfortable with me knowing and I'll say what I know about the situation," Hakuba faced Kid, "Both of your situations if you don't mind me saying so."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about Tantei-san," Kid shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm not in any sort of situation."

"Is that so?" Hakuba hummed, "Very well then, Edogawa-kun I shall only speak about your situation."

"O-Okay." Conan blinked.

"So K-C-Conan here just has to tell ya what he knows and ya tell him what ya know?" Hattori concluded, crossing his arms.

"Yes."

"Why can't ya just tell us what ya know?!"

"Because some are theories that I won't be able to solidify until I hear what Edogawa-kun has to say."

"It's fine Hattori, drop it" After a moments silence, Conan sighed and realized that they were waiting for him to start telling them his story. "Hakuba-kun I'm only going to tell you about a case I am working on, not why I am working on it okay?"

"Thanks perfectly fine Edogawa-kun," Hakuba smiled at him, hoping to ease some of the tension that filled the room.

Hakuba had a feeling that the next hour was going to be a difficult one indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene was stuck in my head for a while now, I just finished writing it!


	16. Let's do This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It took them a while to get there, but Hakuba is finally able to talk with them about the BO despite the interruptions.

He was right, for the entire hour it took Conan to fill him in on what was going on with him and the Black Organization, Hakuba was the only one in the room not suffocating on the tension. Hearing Conan takes the time to describe his run-ins with each member of the BO, Hakuba noticed how he left out meeting Akemi-san and her little sister but didn’t mention it himself. From the sound of things, Hakuba was surprised Conan was still alive with all the unfortunate meetings he’s had with each member. It was the lost look in Conan’s eyes as he spoke, that caused Hakuba’s resolve to bring the organization down to harden.

Vermouth’s apparent fascination with Conan unsettled Hakuba and he could tell from the looks on Hattori’s and Kid’s faces that they were just as bothered by it. Anytime Conan stopped speaking, apparently lost in thought, Hattori filled Hakuba in by saying what little he knew so Conan could organize his thoughts.

Once an hour had passed and Conan finished telling them everything he was willing to tell them, Hakuba spoke up.

“I know you left out a lot of things Edogawa-kun,” Conan winced but Hakuba smiled reassuringly at him before he continued speaking, “That’s alright though, even before you told me what you know I was planning on helping you three regardless.”

Kid sighed and Hakuba could detect a hint of annoyance in his tone when he spoke, “Tantei-san how are you even involved in any of this?”

Hakuba slid off the hospital bed and looked around the room for his clothes before answering Kid, “I know others who were involved and they asked me to help.”

“What others?” Conan asked sharply.

Spotting the bag with his clothes in it on the other side of the room, Hakuba walked over and grabbed it. “We all deserve to keep somethings secret Edogawa-kun, this is what I need to keep to myself. I apologize, but I can tell you everything else I know. Just don’t expect me to give you my acquaintance's names.”

“Acquaintances?” Kid repeated, standing up straight, “Have you met with one of these acquaintances recently?”

Hesitantly, Hakuba replied, “We speak whenever we can see one another. Why?”

Kid shook his head and didn’t say anything else.

“What’re ya doin’?” Hattori asked eyeing Hakuba’s bag of clothes.

“Changing,” Hakuba said simply as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him before the others could say another word. Once he was dressed, Hakuba left the bathroom and saw Dr. Kirsokili in the room looking uncomfortable and Kid was gone.

“Dr. Kirsokili.” Hakuba greeted the man.

Dr. Kirsokili looked reluctant but he held out a clipboard to Hakuba, “Here are your discharge papers Hakuba-san, just fill out the rest and hand it in at the front desk.”

“Wait, ya are dischargin’ him?” Hattori asked incredulously.

Dr. Kirsokili nodded, “He was very passionate in voicing his displeasure in staying any longer than he had too.”

Hakuba blushed when Conan and Hattori both turned towards him with raised eyebrows. Ignoring the both of them, he looked down at the papers Dr. Kirsokili gave him and focused on filling them out, his doctor left with the final warning to keep track of how much sleep he gets, once Hakuba was finished he found his shoes by the side of the bed and put them on.

“Right.” Hakuba stood up and grabbed the papers on his way out of the room. Silently Hattori and Conan followed him all the way to the front desk where he turned in his papers.

“Is there somewhere nearby we could go to finish this discussion?” Hakuba asked once they were outside the Beika Hospital.

Hattori and Conan shared a look before Conan shrugged and said, “We can go to Shinichi-niisan's house.”

Hakuba shot Conan a questioning look, “I wouldn’t feel comfortable just waltzing into his home.”

“It’s okay!” Conan reassured him, “I go over all the time!”

“Is that so…” Hakuba muttered before nodding that he was okay with it, “Lead the way please.”

Before they could even move one step, a dove flew in front of them before landing next to Conan’s foot. Conan reached down towards the abnormally well-behaved bird and removed something from its leg.

Conan unfolded the paper in his hands and read aloud with an annoyed scowl on his face, “I’ll meet you there. Kaitou Kid.”

“He’s listenin’ in on us?” Hattori glances around them before looking over at Conan.

**_“Well of course Tantei-han!”_ **

All Three of them stared at the dove which Kids’ voice was coming from. It wasn’t until they look closer at the dove's leg that they saw a tiny microphone attached to it.

“We’ll wait for you.” Hakuba finally said when it seemed like no one else was going to answer.

The dove cooed at them before flapping its wings and taking off, possibly back to its owner. It was due to Conan refusing to allow Hakuba to walk all the way to Kudo Shinichi’s house when he just left the hospital that the three of them squeezed into the backseat of a trash-filled taxi. Hakuba would’ve sat up front but the Taxi driver was giving him odd looks that left Conan and Hattori glaring at him.

“So, are these two showing you around?” The taxi driver asked three minutes into the ride.

Hakuba blinked at the man before realizing that the taxi driver was talking to him and thought that he was a foreigner.

Sighing, Hakuba casually responded, “No sir. I know my way around Beika easily enough.”

The man hummed slowing down as they reached a red light, “That so? Not use to seeing such an exotic looking man in my taxi, how old are you?” The man looked into the rearview mirror and winked.

Startled, Hakuba didn’t respond. He didn’t have to though before the moment that question left the man’s lips, Hattori was the one who answered him.

“The hell’s the matter with ya? Askin’ him how old he is. He’s underage! That’s how old he is! Plus ya shouldn’t go around actin’ like a Pedophile!”

The man scowled at Hattori angrily and snapped, “I wasn’t asking you.”

Hakuba watched out of the corner of his eye as Conan took a picture of the man and sent it to someone. The next six minutes passed by in silence that involved Hattori and the man glaring at one another and Conan holding onto Hakuba’s sleeve tightly. Once the man pulled to a stop in front of Shinichi's house, Hakuba quickly got out and held the door open for Conan to jump out while Hattori got out the other side. Leaning down towards the man’s open window, Hakuba placed a decent about of cash into the man’s outstretched hand. It looked like the man was about to stay something, but Hakuba stumbled backward as Hattori yanked on his arm, pulling him away from the taxi.

“Hattori-kun I know you’re in a hurry to hear what I know but please let go of me.” Hakuba tried to hide his irritation, he knew now was not the time to get into an argument with Hattori.

Conan and Hattori both turned to look at him with identical looks of disbelief.

“What?”

“Ya have got to be kiddin’ me…” Hattori muttered, turning around and pulling Conan with him towards the gate.

Confused, but decided to let the matter drop Hakuba followed after them. Kaitou Kid in his Phantom attire and not a costume was sitting on the couch in the parlor.

“What took you all so long? You should’ve gotten here before me.” Kid grinned, looking far too comfortable in a home that was not his own.

When Hattori began muttering about stupid taxi drivers being perverted idiots Kid just blinked at them.

“O-Kay?” Kid cleared his throat, “uh-“

“You don’t want to know.” Conan simply said as he walked past Kid and sat down on the armchair.

Hattori dragged a chair out from what Hakuba assumed was the kitchen, and placed it next to the armchair before plopping down in it.

Hakuba sat down on the couch and felt a bit hurt as Kid scooted away from him. Chalking it up to Kid feeling uncomfortable while surrounded by three Detectives, Hakuba pushed the feeling aside and concentrated on the conversation ahead.

“So,” Hakuba cleared his throat, “Instead of you three asking me questions, how about I tell you what I know and we save the interrupting for later? Sound good?”

Hattori begrudgingly agreed while Kid and Conan nodded their heads. Hakuba couldn’t help but think that this would be easier than he thought.

“Okay...It all started around three years ago in England.” Hakuba began only for Kid to interrupt him.

“Wait three years?!”

Hakuba shot Kid a look, “I thought there were to be no interruptions?”

“But Tantei-kun’s been after them for less than a year, and you’ve known about them for three?”

Hakuba wanted to call Kid out since he knew he’s only been running into his organization for less than a year as well but decided not too. “Kid, just save your questions for the end. Perhaps if you let me explain then you’ll find some questions will be answered.”

Kid nodded his head and kept quiet.

Satisfied, Hakuba continued speaking, “As I was saying, three years ago there was a detective living in England, specifically the City of Westminster. That detective occasionally worked with Scotland Yard whenever they needed help on a case or if people came to him instead of the police…. This detective was asked to search for a missing boy his own age.” Hakuba could see the others getting confused by his story but he couldn’t find it in himself to care, besides he knew they’d understand more by the time he was finished. “It was because of that cause that the detective met a bad person…. an assassin for hire by the codename of Spider. Who later on became partners with another person whose codename is Snake.”

Kid’s posture stiffened and Hakuba saw Conan shoot Kid a look before returning his attention back to Hakuba.

“There was a few...incidents that had happened which led to that detective hunting down Spider.” Hakuba shot Hattori a look when it seemed like the Kansai detective was about to interrupt, “Almost half a year ago that detective found a lead on Spider which led him to Japan. Only instead of finding Spider, the detective found Snake and a few others who work alongside the man.”

“Snake had an intended target which the detective happens to learn by accident, since then anytime Snake made a move against that target, the detective tried to be there….after a few weeks, the detective met someone who has had close encounters with Snake and his men. This man became a fast acquaintance of the detectives and told him as much as he could about the supposed organization Snake belonged to but in return he wanted the detective to help stop them. Something the detective had already planned to do.”

Kid held up his hand, stopping Hakuba from saying anything else.

Hakuba thought Kid was simply interrupting him again and was about to continue his story but stopped when Kid sent him an almost pleading look.

“I suppose Tantei-kun and Tantei-han that I should continue from there.” Kid said cooly. “Snake and the rest of his men are after a certain gem…. the original Kaitou Kid was hired by the organization to find this gem but he had refused. They were not happy with him.”

Hakuba glanced over Kid’s shoulder to see Kuroba-san staring at him in shock. Kuroba-san walked around the couch so he was by Hakuba’s side instead.

_“...You never told us that you were hunting them down before you came to Japan….”_

Hakuba didn’t respond. He didn’t want to risk having any of the other’s see him talking to thin air and try to question him.

_“Hakuba-kun. You said you’ve been doing this for three years now?” Kuroba-san shook his head, “I’d only known about them for a year before they killed me….What I don’t understand is how a missing person case leads to you being involved in all this!”_

Hakuba tilted his head down so he wouldn’t have to look Kuroba-san in the eye.

_“What you’re going to ignore me now? Hakuba-kun we need to talk about this!”_

Hakuba tuned back into the conversation Kid was having with the other two detectives and realized how he was telling them all he knew, except who the original Kid was, how he was killed and what exactly Snake was searching for.

“So now we had two organizations comin’ after us?” Hattori groaned, “Alright, but how do ya think we can learn more about ‘em besides at yer heists?”

Hakuba chose that moment to rejoin the conversation, mainly so he couldn't have to focus on trying to ignore Kuroba-san, “I have an acquaintance on the inside who could tell me when Snake and his men will go after Kid. Oh, and we don’t need to focus on both at once.”

Conan looked about ready to snap at him so Hakuba quickly continued, “That’s because they aren’t two different organizations. Snake and his men are one of the subdivisions of the organization, the main group being those with the code names of alcoholic beverages." 

“How many subdivisions are there?” Conan asked grimly.

Hakuba frowned, “From what I already knew and what I’ve been told...There’s the group named after animals which is led by Snake, there’s one named after insects that Spider is the co-leader of, and then there’s one named after poisonous plants. That last group I’m afraid I don’t have much intel on.”

“That fact that you could tell us all that shows you know more than us.” Conan shook his head, “What about those named after alcohol? What do you know about them?”

“They’re quite efficient in what they do. They have sections amongst themselves for specific talents such as political power, wealth, scientists, assassins, actors, brutes, and they are related to a large number of cold cases.” Hakuba smiled ruefully, “Their boss is someone who goes by the codename Ano Kata. I do not know their actual identity.”

“That’s... wow.” Kid muttered looking down.

“Sounds like we have a lotta people to go after,” Hattori said eyeing Conan who was staring at Hakuba with a blank expression on his face.

After a minute had passed with no one speaking, Conan finally spoke, “You haven’t told us everything.”

Hakuba nodded, “I know. Somethings I cannot tell you just yet and other things I’m not sure of at the moment.”

Kid frowned, “Tantei-san you keep mentioning all of these ‘acquaintances’ of yours. Yet you haven’t mentioned who they are or how you met them, why should we trust them?”

“I can’t give out their names because I want to keep them safe. Besides I trust them and if you can trust me then trust my opinion. If not then working together will only be a hassle for all of us.” Hakuba shrugged.

“I...I trust you…”

“You don’t sound too sure of yourself,” Hakuba said calmly.

“I do trust you.” Kid said firmly, “It’s just I’m a thief remember? You’re all detectives, this isn’t something that makes me feel safe doing.”

Hakuba tilted his head, “...I won’t arrest you.”

“What?”

“I won’t arrest you,” Hakuba repeated before looking over at Hattori and Conan who was just watching the conversation in fascination.

“I don’t even attend yer heists so why would I arrest ya?” Hattori grinned.

Conan smirked, “I’m a homicide detective, and it’s not like you’re a bad thief who hurts people.”

Kid dropped his head into his hands and groaned loudly, “You three will be the death of me.”

Hakuba checked his pocket watch and stood up, “As lovely as this conversation has been, I need to head home.”

“There’s no school tomorrow Tantei-san.”

“No, but I do have a flight to catch at 9 AM.” Hakuba said dryly, “I’d rather have at least a few hours sleep before I need to leave.”

“A flight?” Hattori furrowed his brows, “Where are ya goin’?”

“I’m heading home for a little bit. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to help with taking the BO, as you named them, down.”

Conan snorted, “It’s not going to be that easy.”

“I know. Which is why I won’t be gone long.”

They all spent a few more minutes discussing less pressing matters before each agreeing to keep in contact and then going their separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I had worked for the past three days and was only able to have enough free time to write today. Okay! So Erythrophobia takes place in the next chapter which leads me to ask.
> 
> Should I repost it on here  
> Rewrite it differently on here  
> or skip it somehow?


	17. (Mis)Understandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hakuba and Kid finally talk and some of Hakuba's past is revealed.

The entire week he’d spent with his mother was pleasant but exhausting. Hakuba loved his mother, but things were still strained between them, as they always had been. He thought things were getting better but apparently not.

She couldn’t seem to let go of the fact that he could see ghosts. He quickly learned about three weeks after the accident that he shouldn’t mention it anymore, in fact, he began to pretend he couldn’t see them in the first place. That appeased his mother slightly but when she caught him talking to himself one night his ruse was blown. Since then she stopped treating him like her son and more like an item one was forced to keep. It was not a situation Hakuba was comfortable with but since he was the heir to the Hakuba name he had no choice but to attend any public events his parents wished him too.

He was glad when after a week of nonstop meetings and get-togethers he was able to find an excuse to head back to Japan. Kaitou Kid had sent out a heist notice. Hakuba bought his plane tickets 2 minutes and 34 seconds after he read the heist note, afterward, he clicked on the contact labeled “G” and sent one word, ‘Snipers?’.

“G” responded almost immediately with a simple ‘No.’.

.

..

...

Hakuba hadn't been able to go to the past three heists due to not being in the country, but since his flight landed six hours ago he had plenty of time to meet up with Inspector Nakamori at the police station. From there he was filled in on what he's missed and was given a copy of the heist note despite the time and place already being known. Kid was apparently targeting the teardrop shaped ruby, called the "Devil's Tears", the blood-red picture Hakuba was handed of the gem showed it looked ordinary enough, the only thing off-putting about it was the hand holding it made out of black stainless steel. It presented quite an eerie image.

The Museum itself was actually a hall rented in a hotel which was showing off a collection of gems to a select few. When the owner found out Kid was targeting his item, he opened the showing to the public and now the hotel had Kid's fangirls scattered all over the place and waiting outside the showroom.

Hakuba couldn't understand why getting stolen from seemed too excited so many of the victims of Kid's heists.

He spent the majority of the ride to the Museum answering Conan and Hattori’s text messages asking him if there would be any snipers at the heist. Sadly, Conan was not at the heist so Hakuba couldn't count on him to have his back in chasing Kid. Once Kid arrived, everything happened much the same as it would any other heist night. The task force was distracted by Kid's traps and were all still on the last two floors, Hakuba, however, managed to evade every trap and was hoping his appearance at the heist was not one Kid had calculated for. Out of the twelve traps scattered throughout the floor, Hakuba managed to avoid eleven of them, sadly the one he didn't have left him with his hair dyed green and covered in pink glitter. He sincerely wished he would be able to wash it all out before he had to return to school.

Hakuba growled when he caught sight of his reflection in one of the hall windows. When he got his hands on Kid he was going to make sure the thief got what he deserved. Narrowing down Kid's escape routes, Hakuba managed to figure out one room on the next floor which was most likely to be used by Kid.

Hakuba raced up the stairs, yells of task force members reaching his ears as they didn't manage to avoid the traps as he had. Hakuba made sure not to make any noise as he entered the room, all the lights were off and the curtains on the lone glass door to the balcony were only open a sliver, letting moonlight light the room.

Something screamed at him that this was a trap but Hakuba knew Kid had to be here, hidden somewhere in the room. He wasn’t too worried because ever since they'd all agreed to work with one another, things subtly began changing. Hattori and he stopped getting into as many arguments and Conan stopped acting childish around him. The biggest change was Kid willingly seeking him out to talk on some nights, Hakuba would’ve felt better had Kid arrived as Kuroba Kaito those times instead of in his Kid persona, but Hakuba would take what he could get.  There was no doubt this was one of the hotels smaller conference rooms, and on the table in the middle of the room sat Kaitou Kid's hat. Wary, but curious, Hakuba slowly made his way over to the table and just as he was reaching towards the hat, to examine it, it exploded.

Hakuba shut his eyes as thick goop coated him from head to toe due to the explosion. Kid's laughter echoed throughout the room, annoyed, Hakuba gritted his teeth and opened his eyes fully expecting to see a glitter bomb had gone off but froze when he realized that was not what had happened.

The logical side of his brain told him that it was only a bit of paint on him, but looking down at the **Red** covering his hands and arms, Hakuba found logic was not something he could focus on at the moment. It was splattered up his sleeves, soaking his chest, dripping in his hair, and coating his skin, bits of it had gotten on his pants as well.

 _"Please... please, it hurts…"_ His voice came out as a whisper and Hakuba had to strain to hear the words, _"Hakuba... make it stops, please... please."_ He promised, he swore that he would get them out of there. He needed to make sure they got out of there. Hakuba blinked, he realized his hands were shaking, and the moonlight allowed him to watch as one drop after another fell to the ground by his feet. _Screaming, nothing he could do would get them to stop screaming, he tried, he really tried everything but nothing seemed to work. He couldn't save them. He couldn't save them-!_ Hakuba gulped, his breathing began picking up its pace as he struggled to take a breath in. _There was blood everywhere, his hair, his clothes, all over his hands, he couldn't stem the bleeding…_

"Tantei-san?" A white glove reached towards him and unable to help himself, Hakuba flinched, His head jerked up to stare at the figure in white in front of him, the figure took a step back from him, seemingly startled and Hakuba choked back the urge to scream, instead a strangled whimper left his throat. He knew who the person in white was but for some reason, his mind refused to supply him with a name.

It didn’t help that there was literally a burned figure standing behind the person in white, calling his name and reaching out towards him.

"Tantei-san? Oh god," The figure in white moved towards him again but Hakuba hastily moved out of reach as he screamed with his chest heaving,

"Don't touch me!"

The burned figure froze, his eyes wide and mouth opened in a small “O” shape. The person in white held his hands up in front of him and made soft cooing noises as though Hakuba were a frightened child. Something that annoyed Hakuba greatly. "Tantei-san I won't touch you, but you need to calm down. You're going to hyperventilate."

Hakuba shook his head frantically, "Get it off, p-please get it off."

"Get what off Tantei-san? The paint?"

"No!" Hakuba hunched over slightly bringing one hand to cover the other as he began scratching at his skin, "T-The blood, get it off. Get the blood off! Please...please get it off!"

_“Blood? Oh dear god... Hakuba-kun it isn’t blood!” The burned figure cried out, “I don’t know what you think you’re seeing but... you’re currently in Japan. You’re at a Kaitou Kid heist and the one in front of you is Kid. I’m Kuroba Touichi, do  you remember me?”_

"Bl-?" A sharp intake of breath coming from the person in white reached his ears but Hakuba ignored it and the burned figures words as he began scratching harder at his arms, it started to hurt but he didn't care.

The white gloves were reaching towards him again and this time they grabbed onto his wrists forcing him to stop scratching.

"Tantei-san...no...Hakuba look at me. Look at me!" Hakuba looked up at the white figure and couldn't help but wonder when he had fallen to his knees, "It's not blood, do you hear me? It is not blood!"

_“Hakuba-kun please listen to him. You’re safe, I promise you you’re safe.” The burned figure looked about ready to cry so Hakuba looked away from him._

Hakuba tugged his arms, trying to get out of the white figure's grip, "Let go of me...let me go!"

"NO!" The white figure pulled Hakuba towards him until Hakuba's face was buried in his chest, "I don't know what you're remembering…. but I'm sorry, I am so so sorry Hakuba." The figures words came out choked, almost as though they were fighting back tears. “I didn’t... I-I wasn’t trying too…. damn it!”

Hakuba struggled but the arms around him only tighten their hold, eventually, as he began to tire himself out, Hakuba ceased struggling and instead buried his face further into the fabric in front of him where he then began silently crying. The only indication of him crying was the shaking of his shoulders and the steadily growing wet spot on the white figures' clothes.

Both the burned man and the man in white kept murmuring apologies to him and begging him to calm down, but none of it was getting through to Hakuba, he couldn't help but look up with accusing eyes at the figure as he forced a cloth over Hakuba's face and a familiar sweet smell overtook his senses before he slowly lost consciousness.

The last thing he was aware of was indigo eyes, one covered by a monocle, staring down at him and holding him close.

,

,,

,,,

He awoke disoriented and confused. Something which caused his heart to speed up, it was pounding away in his chest as he hesitantly opened his eyes. Hakuba blinked as the view of his bedroom greeted him.

“Wha-” Hakuba broke off, coughing as taking with how dry his throat was hurt.

His head was hurting and the slight fatigue he felt didn’t help matters at all. Forcing himself to sit up in his bed, Hakuba was surprised to see he was wearing a pair of sweats and was shirtless. Closing his eyes, Hakuba thought back to the last thing he could remember, which was attending Kid’s heist and managing to find Kid’s hat in one of the Hotel rooms….

_“...Hakuba-kun?”_

Startled, Hakuba’s eyes flew open. Kuroba-san was kneeling down next to the bed and looking Hakuba in the eye. “K-Kuroba-san…”

_“How are you feeling?” Kuroba-san asked softly._

“Like I got hit by a bloody truck.” Hakuba looked down at his lap, “...What happened?”

When Kuroba-san didn’t say a word and a few minutes passed, Hakuba quietly repeated his question.

_“...Kaito….He set up a trap but...it ended up becoming a trigger for you. You had a flashback, I believe and nothing we did could snap you out of it.”_

Hakuba’s eyes narrowed, “...He drugged me?”

_“Haku-”_

“You know as well as I do that Kuroba-kun carries knockout gas on his person at all times during a heist yet he drugged me! I’m able to recognize Chloroform by scent! Why does he even have that?!”

_“You were panicking to the point of hyperventilation Hakuba-kun! Nothing would calm you down. Kaito did what he had to do to stop you before you hurt yourself.”_

Hearing that Hakuba couldn’t help but feel betrayed by Kuroba-san, but then again he supposed it wasn’t too surprising the man sided with his son.

,

,,

,,,

Two weeks. He’d been avoiding Kaito for two weeks now ever since the incident at Kid’s heist. Hakuba felt a tad bad seeing how Kaito literally has been sending him puppy eyes whenever they’d seen one another.

He wasn’t even sure why he’d taken to avoiding Kaito, and Kuroba-san as well.

He just knew he wouldn’t be able to face them after what happened. He was right, when Kaito managed to corner him in the boy’s bathroom at school and Hakuba was terrified to be alone with him, he had a theory as to why but even to him it sounded ridiculous. Apparently, Conan and Hattori were aware of the situation as well since Hakuba didn’t go to Kid’s next heist and according to Conan, Kid had told them that they weren’t speaking to one another. It annoyed him that he was allowing his emotions to get in the way of their planning to take down the BO but Hakuba couldn’t help it.

He was forced to confront the situation between him and Kaito two days later when he was sitting in his bedroom and had gotten the alert on his phone of someone unauthorized entering the property. A glance at the security camera live stream showed Kid sneaking across the lawn and around the house until he stood underneath Hakuba’s bedroom balcony.

Realizing what Kid was about to do, Hakuba stood up and crossed his arms in front of his chest, a position that was both offensive and defensive. After one minute 43.21 seconds, all of which Hakuba spent internally panicking, the curtains shifted as someone entered the room before pulling them to the side all the way to reveal a shocked Kaitou Kid who had frozen where he was.

“Long time no see, Tantei-san~!” Kid grinned but Hakuba could tell that the smile on his face was a forced one.

Frowning Hakuba asked, “...What are you doing here Kid?”

“Tsk,” Kid put his hands on his hips, “Can’t I come to check up on one of my detectives?”

“....”

When Hakuba didn’t respond, Kid dropped his arms down by his side, “...Alright. I’m here Tantei-san because I want to apologize.”

Hakuba’s hand twitched, wishing he could pull his pocket-watch out and listen to the steady ticking but he knew if he did he wouldn’t focus on what Kid was saying.

Kid slowly walked further into the room until he was standing directly in front of Hakuba, who was shocked because with Kid standing this close he could see his features under the hat and monocle. Hakuba quickly looked away to avoid seeing any more than he already had. Of course, he knew who Kid was but he didn’t want Kid to give up his identity because he was more focused on apologizing, Hakuba would rather Kid willingly show him as a sign of trust then reveal himself by accident.

Kid had looked hurt the moment Hakuba looked away but slowly moved so that he was sitting on the end of Hakuba’s bed with Hakuba standing in front of him. “Tantei-san.”

Hakuba took one look at the pained expression on Kids’ face and knew he was done for. Mentally preparing himself for the conversation that was bound to happen, Hakuba moved stiffly over towards the bed and sat so he was leaning against the headboard facing Kid.

When a few minutes passed with neither of them saying a word, Hakuba realized he would have to be the one to start the conversation.

“Kur-Kid.” Kid’s head jolted up and he looked surprised that Hakuba had even addressed him, causing Hakuba to frown. “Kid... I... I’m sorry.”

Kid gaped at him, “Why are you apologizing to me? I’m supposed to be the one apologizing to you!”

Hakuba blinked, “What? You already did, when you snuck into my room. I believe I should apologize due to my behavior towards you.”

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop acting all formal with me!” Kid threw his hands up, “Tantei-han told me about that party you two were at, how you put up a formal front around all those strangers. I am not one of those strangers!”

“I..” Hakuba paused before nodding slowly, “..Alright….I can’t promise that I’ll stop being formal, after all, I am a gentleman, but... I can... try…”

“...ne, Tantei-san?” Kid shifted around on the bed so that he was sitting with his legs crossed and facing Hakuba, “...Can...can I ask…?”

“....You want to know what happened.” Hakuba asked though he said it more like a statement.

Hesitant, Kid slowly nodded his head.

“I suppose you’d find out sooner or later,” Hakuba dropped his head back and it thunked loudly against the headboard, “It’s fine. Just... I... won’t... I won’t be able to tell you everything…. I-”

“I don’t need to know everything.” Kid cut in, “Tantei-san, you don’t need to tell me anything either just...just can you tell me what triggers you? I-I need to know so that…”

The ‘so that I don’t cause you to have another panic attack’ went unsaid but both of them clearly knew what Kid was trying to say.

“Well…” Hakuba closed his eyes, “ I suppose you already know that I can’t stand the color red.“

Kid opened his mouth about to speak but quickly snapped it shut, before seemingly deciding that he needed to say whatever he had to say, “... I figured as much. But, uh, I don’t really understand. I mean….you…you’re a detective so…?”

“So basically you want to know how I’m able to be a detective when I have a fear that basically hinders me.” Hakuba concludes, “... I have a method of calming myself down. My pocket watch, I keep track of its ticking…. the ticking or keeping track of time, in general, gives me something to focus on. I’m able to see anything involving the color red or blood as long as I’m prepared for it. If it certainly shows up out of the blue then….most of the time I can stop an episode before it happens but not if I’m not expecting it.”

Kid nodded slowly, “...Guess there’s the reason behind your time obsession huh?” Kid chuckled weakly.

“...I suppose so.” Hakuba yawned briefly, “Sorry.”

Kid quickly glanced at his watch and frowned when he saw it was nearing three in the morning.

Hakuba shook his head, “Let’s just finish this discussion, I doubt I’ll be able to sleep peacefully anyway.”

Hakuba supposed Kuroba-san planned to come over after his son left to talk as well, after all, he knew they both needed to talk things out as well. Hakuba was a bit sad to admit he’d been lonely without Kuroba-san by his side since the next night after the heist. Akemi-san had been trailing after Conan and Hattori respectively to give Hakuba his space.

“Tantei-san?”

Hakuba smiles ruefully, “You were asking what was a trigger for me? Well… I panic if I’m trapped. Mainly in small spaces and if I believe I won’t be freed soon.”

Kid paled drastically, “....I’ve handcuffed you during heists before….I’ve even locked you in a closet with Inspector Nakamori…”

Hakuba winced.

“I made you have a panic attack before?” Kid sounded absolutely horrified and Hakuba looked down at his lap.

“....You didn’t mean to…” Hakuba said softly.

“I-“

“No,” Hakuba cut Kid off firmly, “You did not mean to and the inspector was there to help me calm down. This is why I apologized earlier, I forgave you the moment happened... it’s just…. you _drugged_ me. I… that’s how... t-that’s how I…” Hakuba took a deep breath, “...I was kidnapped... years ago…. just... please promise me you won’t drug me ever again. I understand your use of the knockout gas during your heists, but please don’t ever use chloroform on me again. It reminds me too much of…..”

Kids eyes were opened wide and the moment Hakuba trailed off he began nodding his head almost frantically, “I swear. Oh God, I fucking swear I won’t!”

Hakuba nodded slowly, “... other than that, the only thing I have to say is if you ever happen to witness me having a nightmare do not wake me up," Seeing the confused expression on Kids’ face, Hakuba elaborated, “If you wake me up from a nightmare I won’t realize I was dreaming, I’ll think I was still there where whatever I was dreaming about was taking place, but if you let the nightmare play itself out, I’ll wake up and I’ll know it was a dream.”

“O-okay…”

Hakuba sighed, “... Shall we call it a night? After all, we do have to get up in a few hours for school.”

Kid nodded, not even denying the fact that Hakuba had just hinted towards how he believed they went to school together.

The moment Kid was back at the balcony with one leg over the railing, he turned back towards Hakuba and grinned, “Good night Tantei-san.”

“Good night, Kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update this one, I needed to figure out how to work out certain scenes and then the plot sort of got away from me and I kept getting idea's for new DC/MK stories and...yeah. On the bright side, I started my next semester of College [I'm surprisingly good at Calculus....]


	18. Itsy bitsy Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanting a normal calm day is too much to ask for, isn't it?

It was obvious from the way that Hattori and Conan both stared at him that Kaito had told them about Hakuba’s...triggers… but Hakuba couldn’t find it in himself to care. At least now he won’t have to have a repeat of that conversation with the other two detectives or risk having another panic attack.

His talk with Kuroba-San yesterday went basically the same as his one with Kaito, both parties felt guilty and Hakuba had to assure them that they weren’t at fault for something they didn’t know about.

They were all in Beika at the moment because heading over to Beika despite the hot weather and the urge to sleep the day away was something out of Hakuba’s control. He’d be leaving school when Conan called him and asked him to come over. Hattori came down for a visit and demanded that Hakuba come to spend the day with him and Conan, something which surprised Hakuba immensely. When Kaito heard that Hakuba was going to Beika, he all but invited himself along. Akako and Aoko both trying and failing to find out why the two of them were suddenly hanging out with one another.

What annoyed Hakuba the most with the situation was that no one bothered telling him where they were going or what they were supposed to be doing today. Somehow Kaito knew when he found out about going out after Hakuba had.

Kaito got along surprisingly well with Hattori after Hakuba introduced the two of them, he still thought things would be easier if Kaito admitted to being Kid already. Conan, on the other hand, was shooting Kaito suspicious looks every few minutes. Hakuba was perfectly fine ignoring the stares towards Kaito but when they were being aimed towards him, he felt himself growing tenser by the second. especially, once they made it to the outside supermarket It seems that all of them were keeping an eye out for it becoming too crowded or too much of the color red. Hakuba appreciated the concern but at the moment it was a tad overbearing.

He only hoped they didn’t plan on doing this every time they ventured outside together.

,

,,

,,,

Hakuba froze, thankfully he was standing at the back of the group so none of the others could see the look on his face when he saw Amuro of all people walking the opposite direction they were going. There was stuffed full grocery bags hanging off his arms and he must’ve seen Hakuba the same moment Hakuba had seen him.  

“Amuro-san?” Conan’s quiet inquiry caused Hakuba to glance down at the back of his head before looking back at Amuro.

Amuro who was striding at a fast pace, making his way towards them. It was obvious that Hattori and Kaito were confused by what was going on and both of them including Conan were going on the defensive. Meanwhile, Hakuba just wanted to run. He was absolutely terrified that Amuro would mention what he’d shared with him about Ghosts to the others and that was something Hakuba hadn’t prepared himself for just yet.

What Hakuba was expecting was a punch from Amuro, not for Amuro to stop directly in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest, a feat that looked impossible with the grocery bags but somehow he still managed to pull it off.

Hakuba was tall enough to see over Amuro’s shoulder which allowed him to see the startled look on the other’s faces, also the slight suspicion on Conan’s.

Blushing slightly from the awkwardness of the situation, Hakuba’s eyes glanced over at the four ghosts that seemed to be around Amuro constantly. All four of them seemed entirely too amused by the situation but also seemed glad to see him. Date-san was even waving at him. Hakuba awkwardly smiled in Amuro’s direction, not sure what was going on. Apparently, Amuro took that as a good sign.

Amuro smiled at him, “Are you hungry?”

Not knowing what to say, Hakuba hesitantly nodded his head and Amuro grabbed his hand.

“Great! It’ll be my treat then.” Amuro looked over at a shell-shocked Conan, Hattori, and Kaito and smiled, “You three are welcome to join us and hello Conan-kun, I wasn’t aware you and Hakuba knew one another...”

“Mmh!” Conan smiles and reached out to pull on Hakuba’s sleeve, “Hakuba-niichan is a friend of Ran-neechan! He invited me out shopping with Heiji-niichan.”

Amuro looked over at the other teen, one who looked strikingly similar to Conan, in the group, “And you are?”

“That’s Kuroba-kun, a classmate of mine.” Hakuba cut in, pulling his hand out of Amuro’s and taking half of the grocery bags from him as well.

Amuro didn’t seem too happy to let Hakuba carry any of the bags but didn’t say a word.

“So,” Hattori grinned, breaking the silence that had fallen, “Ya said we’re gettin’ somethin’ ta eat?”

Amuro nodded and turned slightly, “I was just picking up a few things for the café, if you would all like to come over then I could make something to eat for all of you.”

“Ne, could we stop by later?” Conan tilted his head as the others all looked over at him, “There was somewhere I really wanted to show Hakuba-niichan!”

Amuro looked over at Hakuba with a brow raised. Hakuba understood The unspoken question.

Nodding his head Hakuba glanced over at the others and said, “I will help Amuro-san carry his bags to his car, I’ll meet you all back here afterward.”

It was obvious that they were not comfortable with the situation but Hakuba could see the small grin on Amuro’s face and how the ghosts were all nodding in agreement. He figured this meant Amuro wished to speak with him.

Hakuba supposed this was his chance to find out if his little charm had worked after all.

Before Conan or Kaito could try turning the conversation around in their favor, Hakuba wasn’t sure why they seemed uncomfortable with him going with Amuro, Amuro walked off prompting Hakuba to follow after him.

They walked in silence, occasionally Hakuba would mutter under his breath, answering Date-san or Scotch’s questions as the other two ghosts walked quietly by Amuro’s side.

Once the groceries were settled in the trunk of Amuro’s car, Hakuba stood there, unsure what to do now as Amuro simply stared at him.

After a few minutes had passed, Amuro sighed, “I need to apologize to you…” Amuro reached out and clasped Hakuba on the shoulders, “I...I was upset by what you were telling me...I...I had gotten used to it, I admitted that they were all gone but when you told me that Ghosts...that Ghosts were real I wasn’t sure how to feel.”

Amuro let go and leaned back against the side of his car, “I was furious really. After you left, I threw the Omamori off to the side and ignored it for most of the next few days….it was only after I heard Ran-san mention that you were in the hospital that I bothered looking for it. I’m not sure why, to be honest, I don’t even know why I tried it on.”

Hakuba glanced around at the other citizens roaming the stalls set up, Though they were in the parking lot there was still a fair share of people around and Hakuba wasn’t sure now was the best time for this type of conversation.

Amuro nodded his head, seemingly following Hakuba’s train of thought, “Just...I want to say I believe you, and I am sorry. For everything.”

Hakuba smiled at Amuro before looking over at the fours ghosts as well, “...It’s alright. You had a better reaction than others had in the past….I’m just glad you can see your friends now Amuro-san.”

Amuro smirked, “Because of you.”

Hakuba felt his face heating up and glowered at Amuro as the man chuckled. The two of them lapsed into silence, this time a more comfortable one then the tense silence that had formed before. Eventually, Hakuba’s phone went off as one after another text messages came flooding in. From just a glance at the texts, Hakuba could see it was Kaito, Conan and even Hattori messaging him on when he was coming back or if he was alright.

Sighing, Hakuba apologized before gesturing behind him, “I’m afraid I need to get going….Thank you for talking with me Amuro-san.”

“Thank you for letting me,” Amuro’s face turned grim, “I know...I know that what happened ruined things between us, but….if you wouldn’t mind, I would like too...to keep in touch with you.”

Hakuba nodded, “I would like that as well Amuro-san.”

After exchanging numbers, and receiving Amuro’s home phone as well as the cafe’s number as well, Hakuba bid a farewell to them all and headed back the way he came. Hoping to find his way back to the others without getting lost. Beika wasn’t someplace he frequented, though he hoped his sparse knowledge would be enough.

Perhaps today would turn out better than he had imagined it would.

,

,,

,,,

He spoke too soon.

The number of people at the outdoor supermarket had increased by the time he left the parking lot and Hakuba found himself jostled by others hurrying from one designation to another. It was crowded enough that he began to feel a tad claustrophobic but was able to push the anxiety building to the back of his mind.

His cell phone ringing was proven to be a wonderful distraction as Hakuba eagerly accepted the call if only to ignore the gaggle of girls pointing at him and giggling.

“Hakuba?”

“Conan-kun,” Hakuba smiled fleetingly as one of the girls waved at him, “I apologize. I am trying to make my way over to you but it seems as though it had become quite crowded…"

“Do you need us to come to you?”

Hakuba could hear the tint of concern in Conan’s voice, “No need. I am nearby I sha-”

Hakuba cut himself off, his eyes widening as a familiar blond man with waltzed through the crowd.

“Hakuba?”

“Get out of here.” Hakuba quickly muttered, forcing his way through the crowd, apologizing as he pushed past others, “You, Kuroba and Hattori-kun all need to get out of here now.”

“Hakuba what’s going on? Where are you?”

“Spider’s here,” Hakuba rushed out, he knew if Spider was back in Japan then something was about to happen, “He never goes out during the day unless other members are with him.”

“Where are you?!”

The hitches in Conan’s breath led Hakuba to believe that he was running, hopefully away from the crowd.

“Don’t worry,” Hakuba said, turning sharply down as Spider suddenly quickened his pace, “I won’t confront them. I’m simply going to see what is going on-”

“No!” Conan cut him off, “Hakuba you told us to leave, you need to get out of there now!”

“I’ll be alright.” Not awaiting a response, Hakuba quickly ended the call and silenced his phone, not wanting to risk it giving away his position.

So much for a normal day out with... with friends.

Sighing, Hakuba wasn’t sure how to feel about the situation. Spider had yet to notice him or meet up with anyone throughout the past twenty minutes, and fifteen seconds that Hakuba had been following him.

When something captured Spiders attention, Hakuba followed the man’s line of sight and swore his heart stopped when he saw who Spider was looking at.

Nakamori Aoko and her father were walking towards where Spider stood. Alarmed, Hakuba took out his cell phone and quickly called the Inspector.

“Hakuba-kun? It’s my day off, why are you calling me?!”

Not one to beat around the bush, Hakuba quickly said, “Inspector, I need you and Aoko-san to leave the market now. There is someone who I have been following for a case here and he has his eyes on the two of you.”

Hakuba watched as Inspector Nakamori’s posture changed momentarily before relaxing once more as the man discreetly looked around.

“....The blond? With the gauze taped over his cheek?”

Hakuba hummed slightly in agreement.

“Where are you at? You have back up with you?” Inspector Nakamori’s tone hardened, “You better not be chasing a criminal on your own!”

“I’ll be fine, just leave as soon as possible without drawing attention to yourself. I’ll get him out of here.”

“How?”

“I’ll find a way.” Hakuba hung up, briefly seeing the notifications for missed calls and text messages but he ignored them in favor of edging his way over to where Spider stood.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Inspector herding Aoko away in another direction, tilting his head, Hakuba met the Inspector’s gaze and nodded at the older man.

He had a shaky truce with Spider that the man would keep him informed about certain things and stay away from those Hakuba cared for... but…. Hakuba didn’t want to risk anything. Spider had a habit of finding loopholes in situations to make it seem as though he were never in the wrong and that he wasn’t the one who had gone after others but his co-workers had.

Taking a deep breath in, Hakuba stood off to the side, not entirely hidden and waited until Spiders attention drifted over to him.

The grin that formed on the other man’s face was enough to send a shiver down his spine. Despite how much hatred he held for the man... Hakuba knew he needed to stay on Spiders good side if he wanted to keep the man as his informant.

Spider made his way over towards him, and Hakuba crossed his arms over his chest once the man was within speaking distance.

“Why are you here?”

Spider’s lower lip pushed out into a pout, “Awe... aren’t you happy to see me Saguru?”

Hakuba’s brow ticked, no matter how many times he’s corrected him Spider continuously called out to him informally. “Why. Are. You. Here?”

“Hmm... Snake called a meeting, apparently, he wants a bunch of us to get ready for Kid’s next heist.”

Hakuba’s eyes widened a fraction, “What?”

“Guess you better warn that magician of yours hmm,” Spider leaned in close to Hakuba’s face.

Close enough that Hakuba could feel the other man’s breath.

“I’ll see you later, Saguru.”

Spider quickly stepped back and within seconds, Hakuba lost him within the crowd. Unsure if he had been caught in one of Spider’s illusions or not, Hakuba found a bottle of water sitting off to the side of a stand and dumped it over his head much to the shock of onlookers.

Running a hand through his hair, Hakuba sighed. He needed to speak with the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologize for such a long wait! I had planned on updating earlier but one after another. distractions kept popping up! I have the climax already written out, now it's just a matter of writing the chapters leading up to it.....  
> Also, how was all of your Thanksgiving? If you don't celebrate it then did you have a nice day at least?


	19. Boom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything begins clashing together at the next Kid heist.

Apparently, when he had told the others to leave, they decided to head back to his house to wait for him there and Hakuba wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Mainly because he knew Baaya was off today so that meant one of them, most likely Kaito had picked his lock.

Entering the living room, Hakuba noticed Kaito was dressed in his Kid garb and Hattori was pacing behind the couch that Conan sat on. The moment he entered the room Kid rushed towards him and Hakuba was startled when he began patting him down.

Of course, Hakuba batted Kaito's hands away but they immediately returned.

After a few minutes had passed, during which Conan and Hattori’s brows proceeded to disappear into their hairline and Hakuba was sure his face resembled a tomato, Kid stepped back and nodded. At some point, Kuroba-san arrived and seemed to be doing his own search as he circled around Hakuba three times before seemingly satisfied.

“You’re not injured.” Kid grinned widely, relieved.

Hakuba gaped at him while Conan chuckled slightly and Hattori snorted loudly in laughter, “You could’ve bloody well just asked me!”

“Would you have told the truth?” Kid crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Hakuba.

Not saying a word, because he wasn’t sure how he would’ve reacted had he actually been injured, Hakuba walked around Kid and sat down on the couch by Conan. Scowling at Kid the entire time.

“So, mind telling me how you all got into my home?” Hakuba started once he realized none of the others seemed to want to start the conversation.

Hattori scoffed, rounding the couch so that he stood in front of Hakuba, “The hell’s wrong with’ ya?!”

“I beg your pardon?” Hakuba’s lips thinned out. 

It seemed anytime Hattori and him were near one another a fight would start out, but Hakuba was determined not to let the other detective get under his skin. Even that's the way he was pointing his finger at him was rude and grated on his nerves.

“You told us to leave,” Conan began, his voice low with an edge to it that told Hakuba how mad he really was despite his calm appearance, “Yet you stayed there,  _ despite  _ knowing that members of the organization were there.”

Honestly, he wasn't sure what the issue was. He had just done what he thought was best to keep them all safe and away from Spider.

“You don’t understand, do you?” Hattori muttered, his eyes widening in realization.

Shaking his head at the sheer oddness of the situation Hakuba decided that a change of subject was in order, “As interesting as this conversation is, would you like to hear what I’ve found out from Spider?”

When none of them made to speak up, Hakuba sighed lightly in relief. He did not want to get in an argument with any of them and he’d much rather get this other with quickly so that he could plan things out with Akemi-san and Kuroba-san. 

“Snake and his men plan on going after you during your next heist,” Hakuba simply said staring at Kid, “Snake had called a meeting between his men and Spider, possibly a few from Spiders’ division as well.”

Kid tensed up and out of the corner of his eye, Hakuba watched Kuroba-san hover over towards his son’s side and lay a hand on his shoulder. For a brief instant, Hakuba wished that he wasn’t the one to bear witness to the comfort between a father and son, especially when Kid wasn’t even aware of it himself.

Then a grin so wide and painfully _ fake  _ spread across Kid’s face and Hakuba was startled by how angry he was by its appearance.

“Guess I need to make sure that it’s one hell of a show, huh?” Kid rocked back on his heels, “Oooh I wonder if-”

“Unless the next words out of your mouth relate to how we can all prepare for Snake and his men, I would suggest shutting up.” Hakuba snapped, startling the others.

He knew, he  _ knew  _ that Kid didn’t know his father was there listening in but that didn’t change the fact that Hakuba could literally see how Kid’s words were eating away at Kuroba-san.

_ “...He won’t let you in,” Kuroba-san spoke softly, “Not right away. He’s still too wary of you all. Most of all you Hakuba-kun, he knows nothing about you...none of us do.” _

Hakuba turned his head slightly to meet Kuroba-san’s gaze straight on, “Very well.”

“Very well what?” 

Hattori was shooting weird looks at Hakuba causing the blond detective to realize he hadn’t whispered like he thought he had. Thankfully, it seemed as though Conan and Kid were currently in some sort of standoff, so it was only Hattori who had heard Hakuba speaking to thin air.

“Apologies,” Hakuba smiled politely, “I was lost in thought.”

Hattori looked about ready to yell at him, however, the impending argument was stopped as Conan cleared his throat loudly to get Hakuba and Hattori’s attention on him.

“If we want to work together, didn’t we all agree to actually work together? Knock it off with the arguments and Kid enough is enough. We established earlier that we are helping you so get over it and let us!”

The room fell into silence as each of them reflected on what Conan said. Huffing slightly, Hakuba got off the couch, well aware of everyone's eyes on him, and made his way over to the kitchen. It wasn’t until after he had turned on the oven and got out the necessary ingredients to make a simple batch of pasta that the others slowly trickled into the kitchen as well.

“What are ya doin’?” Hattori asked once he realized Kid and Conan were too busy staring to speak.

“Cooking,” Hakuba set about boiling some water before turning towards the sink and washing his hands, “I’m hungry and I suppose you lot are as well. It’ll take thirty minutes and 43.02 seconds before it’s finished so go freshen up, there’s a bathroom down the hall to the right. Also, once you’re finished setting the table.”

Once he was left alone, Hakuba quickly dried his hands and took out his cell phone sending out a text to Amuro-san apologizing but explaining that something had come up and that they wouldn’t be able to go to the cafe today. The response came almost immediately with Amuro simply asking for a rain check then and Hakuba grinned as he agreed.

“Who’re you texting?” The teasing note to Kid’s voice had Hakuba rolling his eyes as he put his cell away.

“An acquaintance of mine,” Hakuba replied dryly before turning back towards the necessary ingredients to start cooking.

Kid frowned at Hakuba’s back before looking over at Hattori and Conan as they returned to the room, immediately teasing the two of them and using one of his smoke bombs as he dyed Conan’s hair blue and Hattori’s lime green.

Surprisingly enough, Hakuba found dinner to be a somewhat peaceful affair. Up until Kid decided to throw a glitter bomb at Conan and get pink glitter everywhere. Hakuba calmly told them all to clean the glitter up by the time he came back downstairs. He had to go up to his bedroom to keep from yelling at them for the mess, although it provided the perfect cover for him to speak with Akemi-san and Kuroba-san.

Once he closed his bedroom door Hakuba softly called out, “Kuroba-san? Akemi-san?”

“ _ I’m here Hakuba-kun.”  _

Hakuba turned and nodded in greeting at Kuroba-san. He sat down at his desk while Kuroba-san jumped onto his bed, not disturbing it but Hakuba was still annoyed to see the ghosts’ shoes on his covers.

They sat there for almost five minutes before Hakuba realized that Akemi-san probably wasn’t going to come.

_ “How would she know to come here anyway?” Kuroba-san asked. _

“Because we’re connected I can let Akemi-san know that I need her,” Hakuba explained shrugging ever so slightly, “It’s sort of like having a very strong feeling that you need to go see someone.”

_ Kuroba-san stares at Hakuba with wide eyes, “Can you do that with me too?” _

“Only if you’re open to the connection,” Hakuba murmured, “If either one of us closes off the connection then we cannot hear one another.”

_ “I can contact you as well?” Kuroba-san’s brow shot up, “That’s…. very convenient. If I can call you when one of the others need help then that is great!” _

Hakuba smiles at Kuroba-san’s enthusiasm, it reminded him greatly of when Kaito had been given tickets to a magicians show a few months ago.

It had barely been a minute after they finally began talking about what to do with the next Kid heist that Hakuba could hear someone running up the stairs and towards his room. Hakuba quickly twisted his desk chair around and made himself seem busy with looking through some of the case files he had left on the desk.

“Oi!” 

Hakuba glanced over his shoulder as the bedroom door opened and Hattori walked in.

“Hattori-kun if you wouldn’t mind, please refrain from snooping.” Hakuba couldn’t help but roll his eyes had the lack of subtle Hattori had as he looked around the room. 

Hattori’s face heated up as he scoffed, “Ya comin’ down or not?”

Hakuba raised a brow as he faced Hattori, “Did you all clean up that mess?”

“Kid made it, not me!” Hattori snapped, “And yeah it’s cleaned up. What’re ya doin’ up here anyway?”

Hakuba stood up, “I was looking over a few case files from Scotland Yard.”

“What cases?” Hattori leaned around Hakuba to glance at the papers but Hakuba quickly snapped them shut. “What? Scared I’ll solve them before ya?”

Hakuba smiled coldly, “No. this case has been labeled a cold case a long time ago. No one is currently looking into it anymore.”

“Then why are ya?”

“Simply a way to pass the time.” Having had enough of the conversation, Hakuba not so gently guided Hattori out of his room back towards the staircase. “Shall we get back to the others before they destroy my home?”

Turns out the fear of having his home destroyed wasn’t as silly of a concern as he thought it to be. For the moment they walked into the living room a soccer ball came flying out of nowhere and almost hit Hakuba in the head. It would’ve hit him if Kid hadn’t leaped at him and tackled him out of the way in time.

“You really do need to stop pushing me to the floor,” Hakuba said dryly.

Kid snorted with a wide grin on his face, “Stop getting yourself in situations where you have to be tackled.”

Hakuba turned his head to glare at a sheepish looking Conan, “Mind telling me why you were kicking a bloody soccer ball of all things in my house?”

Before Conan could even try explaining himself Hakuba’s glare was turned on Hattori who started laughing at him.

“Sometimes I hate you all,” Hakuba muttered bitterly, seeing out of the corner of his eye Kuroba-san on the ground laughing.

The only good thing about the situation was that Kid had gotten off of him and Hakuba was able to stand up. Shaking his head at them, Hakuba moved past them to get to the kitchen, stopping in shock as the dishes were all done.

Hakuba looked back at them all, “I said to clean the glitter up, you didn’t need to do the dishes. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Tantei-kun!” 

Hattori snorted, "I don't see why yer sayin' yer welcome when ya didn't do any of them."

Kaito spun towards Hattori and crossed his arms over his chest as he pouted at him, "But he didn't know that!"

Shaking his head at the idiocy of the situation, Hakuba made his way back out into the parlor, intent on waiting out there for the others to stop arguing. Conan followed after him and together both of them began working on their plan for the next heist.

,

,,

,,,

They had everything planned.

The time Kaitou Kid announced a heist in Osaka, leading to the gathering of Hakuba, Edogawa Conan, and Hattori Heiji that night. The heist notice wasn’t as elaborate as the ones Kid had done in the past but Inspector Nakamori hadn’t seemed to notice. Hattori convinced his father to let him join the task force, and Hakuba convinced Ran that he would look out for Conan so that she would go back to Miss Kazuha’s home. 

The heist went as most of them had gone, with the task force causing more harm than good, Hakuba getting into an argument with Hattori every few minutes and Conan ignoring both of them. Kuroba-san was standing off to the side laughing, and it was only because Kuroba-san was genuinely laughing that Hakuba didn’t tell the ghost to leave. Usually, if Kuroba-san accompanied him to a heist then Hakuba would be submitted to the ghost bugging him the entire time, hoping to distract him from going after Kid. The only indication of how tense they all were was how none of them relaxed even as the heist came to an end. Kid disappeared off the rooftop of the museum towards the building next to it without so much as a hint of snipers despite Spider warning Hakuba that they would be there.

It wasn’t until Kid made his getaway and the three Detectives chased after him into a building next door, some sort of abandoned hotel, that things took a turn for the worst. Instead of worrying about possible snipers, something else happened.

An explosion filled the silence of the night four minutes after all four boys entered the building, the task force and some of Osaka’s police officers bared witness to the building losing stability and going up in flames. Within seconds ambulances and fire trucks were called and the construction crews as well, all they had to do now was wait. It took a group of men from each division to keep Inspector Nakamori and Superintendent Hattori from rushing towards the building.

The screams of civilians who had come to witness Kid’s heist snapped the two out of their shock and had them set up barriers to keep the people back as bits of the building came falling down. Narrowly missing parked cars, the shattered glass flying everywhere.

Inside the building, the stench in the air was nearing unbearable and the creaking of the building itself made the situation worse. The moment the bomb went off all of them had fallen to the floor from the force of the explosion.

Kid whirled towards them with wide eyes, squinting to see through the smoke and yelling to be heard over the loud noises, “Are you guys alright?!”

Hakuba turned towards Conan as he placed cracked glasses back onto his face, all of them muttered affirmatives while coming closer together.

“I thought you said, snipers?!”

Kid’s voice turned a touch hysterical and Hakuba could understand the other teen's worry.

Hakuba pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and clicked on the contact labeled “G”. He immediately sent a text demanding to know what was going on just to receive a shrugging emoji in response. 

Scowling as a bad feeling slowly began to take root, Hakuba put his phone away and turned towards the others, “We need to get out of here.”

“Nah thought ya wanted to stay, baka,” Hattori snapped getting to his feet, “Kaito hide yer outfit.”

Kid looked surprised and before he could speak Conan cut him off.

“We knew who you were since the supermarket fiasco, if Kid leaves this building then not only will the organization be suspicious but the police will pounce on the chance to arrest you.”

Reluctantly, Kid shed his outfit leaving just Kaito in a white shirt and a pair of jeans he had apparently worn under the suit. 

“Take anything you need out of the suit now, none of us have anything to hide it in and it won’t look good if we’re caught with it.” Hakuba suggested, “Perhaps hide it where you would return for it later on?”

Nodding Kaito did just that, the one thing Hakuba noticed he made sure to take with him was the jewel he had stolen earlier and then he grabbed the monocle, something he learned had belonged to Kuroba-san.

That thought had Hakuba pause as he looked around the area, he couldn’t see Kuroba-san anywhere. Frowning, Hakuba concentrated on sending the thought of needing help to Kuroba-san.

The four of them moved carefully but quickly towards the door, a glance out the nearest window showed how crowded it had become outside, as well as how much smoke was in the air. It let them know how big of an explosion it had been.

Moving was slow going as they made their way down one staircase, down a hallway, and through a few rooms before repeating the process all over again.

Hakuba shed his coat and had unbuttoned the top of his collar as the heat got to him, with Hattori and Conan following his lead. Kaito already had his sleeves rolled up and was fanning himself with his hand.

_ “The firemen have arrived,” Kuroba-san came over towards them urgently, startling Hakuba with his sudden appearance, “They’re doing everything they can to get to you all.” _

Discreetly Hakuba nodded his head in thanks, knowing that help was actually there and on its way helped, a lot. 

Now they just had to keep moving and wait for the firemen to meet up with them.

,

,,

,,,

A deep rumbling sound echoed throughout the area around them all, Hakuba froze where he was as did Conan. They strained their ears listening to their surroundings, trying to figure out the source of the noise.

“Ahh!” Conan yelped as the building shook. 

Hakuba threw himself over Hattori just as chunks of the ceiling gave way, they needed to get out of there fast but Hakuba couldn’t see a way out. Hakuba stayed crouched over Hattori and looked over at Conan who held his hands over his head, Hakuba would’ve been more worried since Conan was a child but Hattori was unconscious and couldn’t protect himself at the moment. Gritting his teeth, Hakuba glanced down at Hattori in concern as the Osakan Detective didn’t so much as twitch. It worried him more-so now than when Hattori had fallen through the caved-in stairs earlier with Kaito.

“Edogawa-kun are… are you alright?” Hakuba rasped, the smoke inhalation having filled his lungs and making it harder to breathe. 

“Y-Yeah,” Conan stood up and made his way over to the two of them, eyeing the way Hakuba was crouched over Hattori, “What about you and Hattori?”

“Hattori-kun is-” Hakuba broke off coughing, struggling slightly to regain his breath, “He… He’s alright, though inhaling all this smoke is doing none of us any good. We need to hurry.”

The smoke was thick in the air, and the broken windows were allowing plenty of oxygen to billow in and fuel the flames. It's already been close to thirty minutes since the bomb went off, and twenty minutes since they got caught up in the fire. They wouldn’t be able to last much longer. It was surprising they lasted this long at all. The one thing Hakuba was glad for was that an unconscious Kaito (Hakuba told the others that he was a Kid fan who’d come to Osaka with the task force and him, and must’ve followed them inside, an excuse Kuroba-san thanked him for providing profusely as he followed the firemen taking his son away) was already rescued by firefighters after the stairwell collapsed with Kaito landing on the same side as them. However, the fallen staircase had the firefighters moving back and out of the way, it causing them to search for another way out. 

“Damn-it!” Conan cursed, and normally Hakuba would’ve said something about watching his language but at the moment Conan cursing was the least of his concerns. 

Once the structure seemed stable, at least for that moment, Hakuba slung Hattori’s arm around his shoulders and slowly stood up. Moving hurt, but he had no choice, not if he wanted to get Hattori out alive. 

“O-Oi,” Conan looked Hakuba over concerned, and his voice coming out muffled from behind the handkerchief, “Are you sure you should be moving?”

Conan had every right to be concerned considering the burns Hakuba was sure to have on his arms and the amount of blood Conan saw on his shirt was worrying. 

Hakuba shook his head, mentally noting how Conan didn’t seem to be as childish as he usually acted, “Don’t worry about me Edogawa-kun, the firefighters should’ve met up with us by now but they haven’t. Meaning something is stopping them and we’re not safe here, we need to keep moving.”

Slowly Conan led the way towards the staircase, Hakuba followed at a much slower pace as he struggled to carry Hattori with the extra weight laying directly on his wounds. They had barely made it down a couple of steps before a crashing sound echoed above them, slowly getting louder as it seemed to get closer. 

Within a matter of five seconds, three things happened all at once.

One. Hakuba grabbed a hold of Conan by the scruff of his jacket.

Two. He quickly lowered Hattori to the floor.

Three. Hakuba gently tossed Conan onto Hattori’s chest.

“What are you-?” Conan spluttered his face going beet red as he attempted to move off of Hattori, but Hakuba dropped down so he was straddling Hattori’s waist with his hand coming up to cup his head, and within seconds the ceiling, walls, and stairs all caved in around them. Hakuba’s main concern was using his bigger size to his advantage and covering the other two as much as he could with one hand still cradling Hattori’s head and the other sneaking between them to hold onto Conan.

It was the only thing he could think to do that should protect the other two given the circumstances.

,

,,

,,,

Moving hurt, especially when he tried to breathe in but all that resulted in was harsh coughing as he attempted to catch his breath. Blearily he opened his eyes and looked around him, there was dust settling in the air and everything was strangely quiet. 

“Wha-” Hakuba tried to lift his head but found that even that small movement sent waves of pain coursing through his body. Hakuba swallowed and blinked a few times to get his eyes to use to the sudden darkness compared to the light the fire had given off. 

The fire. The  _ Bomb _ .

Hakuba eyes widened and he felt panic seize hold of his heart as he remembered what had happened, more importantly, he panicked when he realized he couldn’t see Hattori or Conan nearby. He remembered trying to cover them with his own body but once they started falling he had no idea what happened next, Hakuba frowned as he realized he must’ve blacked out. 

“Ed-Edogawa-kun!” Hakuba tried yelling but voice barely came out louder than regularly talking, “Ed*cough*-Ogawa-kun?! Hattori-kun!” 

No one answered him.

Gritting his teeth Hakuba began shifting around, thinking that if he could just get up then he could go find the two of them and make sure they were okay. He could barely move before a searing pain shot through his side making it hard to breathe in or out. He froze where he was, it was because of how difficult it was for him to move that he feared he may have broken a rib or two and if that was the case then he needed to proceed with extreme caution or risk internal damage. 

Slowly taking a deep breath in, Hakuba held it as he hesitantly pushed himself to kneel on all fours. It was then that Hakuba realized something was wrong, up till now he didn’t even realize how badly injured he was until he pushed himself up and saw that blood was dripping down his arm. He couldn’t even feel his arm. Shaking, Hakuba focused on using his other arm to hold himself up and tried to move his left arm only… it wouldn’t move. 

It was only the thought of Conan and Hattori needing him that Hakuba was able to fight off the feelings of hysteria clawing at him the longer he tried and failed to move his arm. Purposely not looking down at the damage done to his arm, Hakuba forced himself to stand up and abruptly turned to the side as bile filled his mouth.

Tears gathered in Hakuba’s eyes as his stomach continued to rebel, the spasms making his pain near unbearable and almost cutting off his breathing entirely. 

Gagging, Hakuba turned away from the mess he made and inspected the area around him. The smoke wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier but there was still ashes and embers floating through the air, causing his throat to itch. Piles upon piles of rubble surrounded him, most darkened by burns from the fire or covered heavily in soot. There was broken glass all over the floor and Hakuba hoped Conan was able to cover himself from it. 

Staggering forward, Hakuba had to grasp at one piece of the building to another in order to actually make any progress in moving. It was slow going at first but eventually, he managed to build up a steady enough pace where he would walk for a bit, stop and look around and call for the others before moving on. 

Hakuba’s head snapped to the side, he could’ve sworn he just hear something…

The process of turning himself around was slow at best but he managed it in the end, his lightheadedness certainly wasn’t helping matters. 

“H-Hak…ba…. H’kuba...”

Pushing himself forwards with a sense of urgency, Hakuba’s eyes roamed over the area once again but he did not see anything different, there was no one in sight. 

“K-Kudo…”

Hakuba tried to place which direction the voice could be coming from, the only possible place would be off to the side but all Hakuba could see were piles of debris. Swallowing hard, Hakuba made his way over to the pile and collapsed to his knees right next to it.

“Hattori-kun!” Hakuba’s voice came out as loud as a whisper. He’d never felt so relieved before in his life, Hattori was laying on his side curled around Conan, who was unconscious but Hakuba was just thankful he could see both their chests moving as they continued to breathe. 

Hattori’s glaze filled eyes struggled to focus on him but Hakuba didn’t mind as long as Hattori could recognize him.

“H’kuba…?” 

Hakuba couldn’t help but marvel at how lucky Hattori and Conan had been. They were trapped under two slabs of concrete but they fell on one another at an angle creating a triangle and stopping the other from falling on top of them. Still, on his knees, Hakuba leaned into the opening and was barely able to fit both shoulders through. He rationalized that Hattori and Conan were both smaller than him so he might be able to get them out without too much trouble. 

“Hattori-kun.” Hakuba carefully leaned against the side of the concrete slab as he reached in with his good arm, “Hattori-kun how badly are you hurt?” 

“Mm… m’head hurts...leg too.”  

Hakuba strained his eyes but could only make out the faint outline of the two of them laying there, “How is Edogawa-kun?”

“K’do?”

“He’s next to you,” Hakuba ignored Hattori’s slip up, something else he mentally noted to address later, his hand finally managed to reach in far enough to touch Conan’s wrist, “I need to know how injured you both are before I can move you out of there.”

Hakuba squinted, watching as Hattori shuffled around and ran how hands down Conan’s arms, legs, and his sides before carefully feeling around his head. 

“...He’s got… a bump… on his head…”

Hakuba was tempted to tell Hattori to stop speaking when it was clearly wearing him out but he was glad not to be the only one awake at the moment. “Could you shift him closer to me? I can’t fit in any further.” 

It was taking longer than Hakuba felt comfortable with in order for Hattori to shift Conan’s body closer to the opening but when he was close enough for Hakuba to grasp his tiny wrist, Hakuba wasted no time in pulling Conan out towards him. The angle was odd, and it was difficult for him to pull with only one arm, Conan was sure to feel sore later on but Hakuba thought it was worth it to get out of there alive. 

The sight of Conan unconscious and covered in soot terrified him but after checking his pulse, Hakuba reasoned that Conan was fine for the moment and Hattori needed him now. Leaning back through the opening Hakuba called out to the other detective, “Hattori-kun can you move any? How badly injured are you?”

“..can move… legs hurts and m’head. Told ya dat...” Hattori shifted slightly and Hakuba realized the detective was attempting to crawl towards him without moving one of his legs. 

Realizing the possibility of Hattori either having a sprain or his leg broken, Hakuba mentally debated on how he was going get both Hattori and Conan out of there. His thoughts were answered when Conan let out a soft groan and blearily blinked up at him.

“Hakuba?”

Ignoring the fact that Conan had greeted him without the use of any honorifics, Hakuba smiled, glad the young detective was awake.

“Edogawa-kun,” Hakuba bent down slightly in order to see him better as what little light they had was slowly disappearing, “How badly hurt are you?”

“I’m fine.” Conan warily got to his feet and patted himself down, “A bit sore, my head’s hurting but I don’t think I have a concussion.”

“Thank god,” Hakuba muttered, “Hattori-kun may have a concussion, he says his head hurts and he was slurring his words earlier. I fear one of his legs are injured as well.”

Conan walked past Hakuba and peered in at Hattori with a concerned frown marring his face. Hattori had barely moved since Hakuba last saw him. Hakuba crouched down next to Conan and reached his good arm in towards Hattori, purposely angling his bad arm away from Conan should he be able to see him in the dim lighting.

“Hattori-kun I need you to grab my hand.”

Hattori snorted as he looked over at Hakuba, squinting, before hesitantly reaching back towards him. Hakuba grasped his hand firmly in his own before whispering an apology as he began pulling Hattori to him. 

Hattori yelped and Hakuba momentarily froze before silently apologizing and continuing to pull Hattori all the way out. 

“Hattori!” Conan knelt next to his friend while Hakuba walked around to kneel by Hattori’s leg.

Hakuba noticed how it was oddly shaped around the knee joint and swollen, frowning he prodded at Hattori’s side until the other detective was less out of it and focusing on him.

“That hurts Idiot!” Hattori snapped batting Hakuba’s hands away from him. 

Hakuba just barely managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes, “Well at least you're not staring off into space now.”

“Focus!” Conan snapped, quieting the two of them. “We need to focus on getting out of here.”

Realizing he was right, Hakuba nodded at Conan before moving closer to Hattori and helping him get into a seated position. Hakuba made Hattori bend his non-injured leg and wrapped his arm around his waist, slowly Hakuba lifted him off the ground, once they were standing Hakuba was glad to have Hattori’s one arm around his neck as it kept him somewhat steady. 

“Edogawa-kun,” Hakuba glanced down at the little detective and was disheartened by how much darker the area had gotten, “Will you be able to move on your own?”

“I’m fine,” Conan fiddled around with his watch and Hakuba jolted as a torch seemed to be coming from it.

Hakuba was just relieved to be able to see even a little, he just hoped Conan wouldn’t turn the light towards him. 

Conan set off, leading the way and Hakuba ignored Hattori’s muttering about how he didn’t need “Stupid Brit” to carry him.

From what Hakuba’s internal clock told him, they’d been walking for almost twenty minutes when his dizziness got the best of him and he stumbled. Hattori yelped as the sudden movement jostled his knee and Hakuba was forced to stop walking otherwise risk falling and taking Hattori down with him.

“What was that fer?!” Hattori yelled twisting his head to glare at Hakuba despite not being able to see one another. 

Then Conan turned the light towards them and Hattori’s jaw snapped shut as they both gazed at Hakuba.

Hakuba could feel their eyes burning holes in him but he ignored it in favor of calmly stating, “Hattori-kun I need to let go of you.”

“Wh-Why?” Hattori stammered, his eyes never moving from Hakuba.

“I believe I am about to lose consciousness.”

“Oi!” 

Hakuba couldn’t tell which one of them had yelled, it might’ve even been him. He felt bad as he lost balance and fell to his knees, he can only imagine how much pain that caused Hattori with his injured leg. 

“Sorry…” Hakuba muttered, reaching out to prod gently at Hattori’s kneecap, “Alright?”

“Ya BAKA!” Hattori roared causing Hakuba to wince at the assault on his ears, “Da hell’s wrong with’ ya?! Don’t move!”

Hattori yanked off his top shirt, the movement awkward at best, leaving him in just a tank top as he began ripping his shirt apart. Conan moved so that he was standing directly in front of Hakuba, between his legs, and shone the flashlight at his face. Hakuba quickly shut his eyes, knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from getting sick if Conan tried shining the light in them.

“Hak-“

“Take my word for it Edogawa-kun, I have a concussion.” Hakuba cut in, “I can’t guarantee that I won’t be sick if you shine that light in my eyes.”

Hakuba relaxed as after a moment the light moved from his eyelids, blearily he opened his eyes. A shout escaping from him as Hattori leaned towards him, pressing harshly against the wound in his shoulder. Hakuba tried to lean away but was forced to stay still as Hattori grabbed onto his collar.

“Don’t move!” Hattori snapped.

“That hurts.” Hakuba gritted his teeth, shooting Hattori a glare as he tried moving away but was stopped, this time, by Conan.

“If you keep moving then you’re going to make it worse.” Conan shined the light at Hakuba’s shoulder once more, “What...What happened?”

Hakuba eyed Conan, “We fell. Remember? The stairwell collapsed.” 

“Where’s Kaito at?” Hattori asked, his eyes darting around almost frantically as he searched their surroundings.

“You were unconscious after the first time, the fireman got him out but they couldn’t get to us. That’s why we had to find another way out,” Conan explained, “We were on the stairs but the building shifted, Hakuba tried covering us but…”

As Conan trailed off, Hakuba picked up the story, “I lost my grasp on the two of you. You both landed away from me which was why I had to find you.”

Hattori looked amazed, “Yer both crazy, how da’ hell did we survive that?!”

Conan shrugged, “I’m just glad we did.”

Hakuba hummed under his breath as his head pounded, his body listing sideways as he fell against Hattori’s chest.

“Oi! Baka get off,” Hakuba squeezed his eyes shut as Hattori pushed him away, the urge to vomit had grown drastically in the past few seconds and Hakuba was giving it his all to avoid being sick.

Especially, in front of the other two.

Hakuba hunched over slightly, the need to just give in to his body’s exhaustion to get away from the pain was all too tempting but he knew he couldn’t. Not now, when there still wasn’t any signs of them being found. Biting his lip, Hakuba forced his eyes open, immediately squeezing them shut as Conan’s light shone directly in his face.

“Sorry! Sorry, you can open your eyes now.”

Squinting, Hakuba threw a glare at Conan, annoyed he had pointed the light at him despite telling him earlier not to do so.

“Are ya alright now?” Hattori’s grip on Hakuba tightened although the other detective showed no discomfort by it.

“Fine. Just…” Hakuba swallowed, “Just help me stand? We need to keep moving.”

Hattori snorted, “No offense, but I can’t walk on my own and yer in no condition tah carry me. I doubt ya can move on yer own either…”

“...If I was bigger then I could help you two…” 

Hearing the anger in Conan’s voice despite his muttering under his breath, Hakuba glanced over at him, realizing something he’d known for quite some time now, “...Kudo-kun.”

Conan’s head snapped up, his eyes wide and mouth parted as he stared at Hakuba. 

Hakuba had a feeling that Hattori was in a similar state, their reactions providing more than enough evidence for him, “Kudo-kun, if you were larger than the chances of you being injured as we are or even worse would increase significantly. I prefer it if you did not get hurt, so don’t worry.” Tilting his head in Hattori’s direction, Hakuba continued, “I was able to carry Hattori-kun this far, I can still aid him.”

“How did you…” Conan trailed off, shaking his head and smiling slightly, “Nevermind. I should’ve known you’d figure it out, sooner or later.”

“Your acting skills need a bit of improvement,” Hakuba offered, remembering all the times Conan’s slipped up around him, “As do yours Hattori-kun.”

Before Hattori could begin defending himself, Hakuba used the change in topic to his advantage and moved away from Hattori before he could tighten his grip once more. Hakuba winced as the movement jarred his shoulder, the cloth Hattori held there sticking in place from what Hakuba presumed was his blood.

“The hell are ya doin’?!” Hattori yelled.

“Getting up,” Hakuba said shortly. 

Getting to his feet was proving to be more difficult then he imagined it would be. Any previous strength in his legs seemed to have vanished altogether as Hakuba struggled to get his feet under him. His legs shook slightly as he forced himself to try putting pressure on them, his vision blurring just a tad as he tried to get used to his new position. He was well aware of how foolish he must’ve looked, staying down in a crouch now as he prepared himself for the task of standing up.

Hakuba glanced up as Hattori started muttering curses under his breath, Hattori had already gotten back to his feet with his bad leg bent slightly to keep it off the ground. Something which Hakuba was both glad and slightly envious of.

Hattori hobbled closer to him and firmly grabbed his elbow, “Can ya stand if I pull yer arm?”

Hakuba nodded his head, yelping immediately once Hattori pulled on his arm. The moment Hattori let go, Hakuba quickly wrapped his arm around his midsection. Standing, but with his eyes squeezed shut and his head bowed, Hakuba’s grip on his side tightened as he slowly breathed in and mentally yelled at himself not to fall back down. Hakuba flinched violently, the movement itself taking his breath away as someone prodded harshly at his side.

“Why didn’t you say you were hurt anywhere else!”

The prodding in his side returned and Hakuba opened his eyes, and threw Conan a dry look, “It’s not like I’ve had the chance too, time is quite literally running out. We need to keep moving regardless.” Seeing how both Hattori and Conan seemed about ready to argue with him, Hakuba quickly forced himself to straighten up. The actions hurting more than he was prepared for but not badly enough to keep him from forcing a smug grin, “I’m fine. Now, are we going to keep moving or just dawdle here until the rest of the building comes down?”

Not awaiting a response, Hakuba quickly maneuvered himself under Hattori's arm and pulled Hattori's weight to him. Keeping the pressure off of Hattori's leg despite doing so transferred the pressure to his already injured ribs. 

Hattori tried pulling away from him but Hakuba simply tightened his grip to keep him from doing so. Conan definitely didn't look pleased with the situation but then again it wasn't like he could do anything about it. Hakuba felt slightly bad for making the two of them feel as though everything was out of their control but if he was being honest it was. It was by some miracle that he was even able to help the two of them the way he was.

Hakuba's body trembled as he forced himself to move forward. He couldn't afford to let himself give in to his injuries, not now when they were all still in danger. Closing his eyes briefly, Hakuba sought out Kuroba-san's presence only he found it to be further away than he planned. He's supposed this meant that he was still waiting by Kaito's side to ensure that his son was safe.

Akemi-san had their connection blocked off, so Hakuba couldn't contact her to see if she could help him figure a way out. There wasn't any other ghost in Japan that he had a connection formed with, which meant that they were on their own for now.

Hakuba blocked out anything that the other two tried saying to him. He needed to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and he couldn't do that if they kept distracting him with their useless chatter. 

He would get them out. He had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out a lot longer then I planned and I ended up having to break this into two chapters... Oops?

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review to let me know what you guys think! Anything specific you believe should be added?


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